CVE-2026-40355
Description
A flaw was found in MIT Kerberos 5 (krb5). An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability by calling gss_accept_sec_context() on a system with a NegoEx mechanism registered. This can lead to the termination of the process, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS).
Statement
Moderate: This flaw allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to cause a Denial of Service in MIT Kerberos 5 by triggering a NULL pointer dereference. Exploitation requires the NegoEx mechanism to be explicitly registered in the system's GSSAPI configuration, which is not a default state in all Red Hat environments.
Mitigation
To mitigate this issue, remove the NegoEx mechanism registration from the system's GSSAPI configuration if it is not required. This can typically be achieved by removing or commenting out the relevant entry in `/etc/gss/mech`. A restart of services utilizing Kerberos might be necessary for the changes to take effect, which could impact Kerberos-dependent functionality.
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).
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 5.9 | 7.5 | 5.9 |
| Attack Vector | Network | Network | Network |
| Attack Complexity | High | Low | High |
| Privileges Required | None | None | None |
| User Interaction | None | None | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | Unchanged | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | None | None | None |
| Integrity Impact | None | None | None |
| Availability Impact | High | High | High |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
NVD: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
NULL pointer dereferences usually result in the failure of the process unless exception handling (on some platforms) is available and implemented. Even when exception handling is being used, it can still be very difficult to return the software to a safe state of operation.
Integrity,Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands; Read Memory; Modify Memory
In rare circumstances, when NULL is equivalent to the 0x0 memory address and privileged code can access it, then writing or reading memory is possible, which may lead to code execution.
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