SUNRPC: Reject krb5 v2 wrap tokens with oversized ec field
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 7 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.
Summary
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: SUNRPC: Reject krb5 v2 wrap tokens with oversized ec field gss_krb5_unwrap_v2() sets buf->len to a logical length, which can be much smaller than head[0].iov_len (the allocated receive-page capacity). It then calls xdr_buf_trim() with a trim length derived from the 16-bit "extra count" (ec) field in the Kerberos v2 token header. The ec field is authenticated by the post-decrypt memcmp() against the encrypted header copy, so a randomly-mutated value is rejected. However, any peer holding a valid GSS context can legitimately encrypt a token whose ec exceeds the plaintext length. Per RFC 4121, such a token is structurally malformed. Although xdr_buf_trim() now clamps the buf->len subtraction to avoid unsigned underflow, the buffer is still left in a semantically invalid state (zero length, inconsistent iov lengths) when ec is oversized. Reject these tokens before calling xdr_buf_trim(), giving callers a well-defined GSS_S_DEFECTIVE_TOKEN error and keeping the xdr_buf internally consistent. The wrapped blob begins at a nonzero offset -- both callers pass len as offset + opaque_len -- so buf->len still counts the offset bytes that precede the blob. Compare the trim length against the remaining wrapped segment, buf->len - offset, rather than the whole buffer; comparing against buf->len alone leaves an offset-wide window in which an oversized ec passes the test and xdr_buf_trim() cuts into the bytes ahead of the blob.
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
Remediation
- Fix · CNA Linux (Linux) Fixed in 5.10.270, 5.15.221, 6.1.188, 6.6.157, 6.12.109, 6.18.50, 7.2.4, 7.3
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-89538
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-3r47-q2hr-fjxp
- 2026-10-18 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-10-23 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-23 CVSS score changed · Red Hat
- 2026-11-06 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
Other 8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ac9efc29346b6942e71f0e24a3178a9121330fab
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/b5746095b59f4d11f39f08751d36bbdfd1e5deac
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/9fc6d6e6db49ab55208d5dd1c424c1d0d9aa7296
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/4abb44a29bb515df6f49123848765c70fc9b5021
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dfcd81ab45613d45996fbf483d4ef54b0ec90ab9
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/1f9856af065b6158271687e9788407b9573fd16f
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/880effc943ed82d6811f272ed3307c222b40f4d6
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/ad484748eec0a66eac0f13ab53b3fbedb7333c91
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Sources
- CVE-2026-89538 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-89538 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-3r47-q2hr-fjxp · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-89538 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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