CVE-2026-11792
Description
A heap buffer overflow flaw was found in 389 Directory Server. When audit logging is enabled, the create_masked_entry_string() function in auditlog.c copies a fixed-length password mask into a precisely-sized heap buffer without checking available space. If a short cleartext password is logged (requiring non-default CLEAR password storage or a compromised replication peer), the copy overflows the buffer, corrupting heap memory and audit log output.
Mitigation
Do not use passwordStorageScheme=CLEAR (default PBKDF2-SHA512 produces hashes longer than 23 bytes). Disable audit logging if not required. Monitor replication agreements for unauthorized peers.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
The following CVSS metrics and score provided are preliminary and subject to review.
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 3.3 | N/A | 3.3 |
| Attack Vector | Network | N/A | Network |
| Attack Complexity | High | N/A | High |
| Privileges Required | High | N/A | High |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | None | N/A | None |
| Integrity Impact | Low | N/A | Low |
| Availability Impact | Low | N/A | Low |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L
Red Hat CVSS v3 Score Explanation
AC:H because two non-default prerequisites must coincide (audit logging enabled + CLEAR scheme or compromised repl peer). I:L/A:L for audit log corruption and potential heap corruption/crash.
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart; DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU); DoS: Resource Consumption (Memory)
Buffer overflows generally lead to crashes. Other attacks leading to lack of availability are possible, including putting the program into an infinite loop.
Integrity,Confidentiality,Availability,Access Control
Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands; Bypass Protection Mechanism; Modify Memory
Buffer overflows often can be used to execute arbitrary code, which is usually outside the scope of a program's implicit security policy. Besides important user data, heap-based overflows can be used to overwrite function pointers that may be living in memory, pointing it to the attacker's code. Even in applications that do not explicitly use function pointers, the run-time will usually leave many in memory. For example, object methods in C++ are generally implemented using function pointers. Even in C programs, there is often a global offset table used by the underlying runtime.
Integrity,Confidentiality,Availability,Access Control,Other
Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands; Bypass Protection Mechanism; Other
When the consequence is arbitrary code execution, this can often be used to subvert any other security service.
Acknowledgements
This issue was discovered by Ian Murphy (Red Hat).
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