Authentication bypass by capture-replay in Authen-SASL
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Security bypass
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CISA ADP. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-294.
Summary
Authen::SASL::Perl::DIGEST_MD5 versions before 2.2100 for Perl accept replayed authentication responses via unverified nonce in server_step. server_start generates a fresh nonce and sends it in the challenge, and nothing later compares that value against the nonce the client returns. server_step derives the expected digest from the client's own parameters, so a response verifies whenever its digest matches the nonce it carries. The count table it also checks is keyed on the client-supplied nonce and starts empty in each new server object, so a captured first response, carrying `nc=00000001`, passes that too. RFC 2831 defines the nonce in the response as the value the server sent in the preceding challenge. An attacker who observes one successful `qop=auth` exchange can replay the captured response against a later session for the same service, host, realm and user, and authenticate as that user without knowing the password.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- Yes
- Technical impact
- Total
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | Authen-SASL | before 2.2100 | 2.2100 | Patch available | CNA |
- Authen-SASL Vendor— Affected before 2.2100 Fixed in 2.2100 Patch available CNA
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Authen-SASL Fixed in 2.2100
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-86219
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-w4h4-7ff5-56xr
References
Other 5
- https://metacpan.org/release/EHUELS/Authen-SASL-2.2000/source/lib/Authen/SASL/Perl/DIGEST_MD5.pm#L203-222
- https://metacpan.org/release/EHUELS/Authen-SASL-2.2000/source/lib/Authen/SASL/Perl/DIGEST_MD5.pm#L410-414
- https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc2831#section-2.1.2
- https://metacpan.org/release/EHUELS/Authen-SASL-2.2100/changes
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-40918
Sources
- CVE-2026-86219 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-86219 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-w4h4-7ff5-56xr · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
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