CVE-2026-9801
Description
A flaw was found in Keycloak. A remote attacker with high privileges, such as a realm administrator configuring a malicious Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) server or an attacker compromising an upstream LDAP server, could exploit this vulnerability. By sending a malformed LDAP password policy response during a password authentication request, the attacker can trigger an OutOfMemoryError. This causes the Keycloak Java Virtual Machine (JVM) to terminate, leading to a denial of service (DoS) for all realms on the affected node.
Statement
This vulnerability in Keycloak presents a denial-of-service risk when an LDAP user-storage provider is configured. A highly privileged attacker, such as a realm administrator or through a compromised LDAP connection, can send a malformed LDAP password-policy response. This triggers an OutOfMemoryError, causing the Keycloak JVM to terminate and resulting in a complete outage of the node.
Mitigation
To mitigate this vulnerability, ensure that Keycloak's LDAP user-storage providers are configured to connect only to trusted and secure LDAP servers. Avoid configuring LDAP federation with unverified or potentially malicious LDAP endpoints. Additionally, always use TLS for LDAP connections to prevent Man-in-the-Middle attacks. If an upstream LDAP server is compromised, it should be isolated and secured immediately.
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 | 4.9 | N/A | 4.9 |
| Attack Vector | Network | N/A | Network |
| Attack Complexity | Low | N/A | Low |
| Privileges Required | High | N/A | High |
| User Interaction | None | N/A | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | None | N/A | None |
| Integrity Impact | None | N/A | None |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | High |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Other,Integrity,Availability
Technical Impact: Varies by Context; DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU); Modify Memory; Read Memory
When the quantity is not properly validated, then attackers can specify malicious quantities to cause excessive resource allocation, trigger unexpected failures, enable buffer overflows, etc.
Acknowledgements
Red Hat would like to thank Seongkuk Park for reporting this issue.
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