SUNRPC: harden gss_krb5_unwrap_v2 against short tokens
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: harden gss_krb5_unwrap_v2 against short tokens gss_krb5_unwrap_v2() reads the EC and RRC header fields at ptr+4 and ptr+6 before validating that the token is at least GSS_KRB5_TOK_HDR_LEN (16) bytes long, and its rotate_left() helper passes buf->len - base to xdr_buf_subsegment() without verifying that base <= buf->len. When a caller hands in a sub-16-byte token, or a token whose declared len leaves base past the end of the buffer, three distinct failures follow: gss_krb5_unwrap_v2(offset, len, buf) ptr = buf->head[0].iov_base + offset ec = *(ptr + 4) /* OOB read on short head */ rrc = *(ptr + 6) /* OOB read on short head */ rotate_left(offset + 16, buf, rrc) xdr_buf_subsegment(buf, &subbuf, base, buf->len - base) /* u32 wrap when base > len */ _rotate_left(&subbuf, shift) shift %= buf->len /* divide-by-zero when base == len */ After decryption, the cleanup arithmetic has the same shape: movelen = min_t(unsigned int, buf->head[0].iov_len, len); movelen -= offset + GSS_KRB5_TOK_HDR_LEN + headskip; BUG_ON(offset + GSS_KRB5_TOK_HDR_LEN + headskip + movelen > buf->head[0].iov_len); The BUG_ON re-adds the value just subtracted, so it reduces to min(A, B) > A and is permanently false; it cannot catch the unsigned underflow of movelen, which then drives a ~UINT_MAX-byte memmove(). Add four defense-in-depth guards inside the unwrap core so it is safe regardless of what its callers validate: - reject tokens with len - offset < GSS_KRB5_TOK_HDR_LEN before touching ptr+4/ptr+6; - bail from rotate_left() when buf->len <= base, covering both the underflow and zero-length cases; - return early from _rotate_left() when buf->len is zero, so the shift %= buf->len modulo cannot fault; - replace the dead BUG_ON with a live check that returns GSS_S_DEFECTIVE_TOKEN before the movelen subtraction.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | 2.6.35 and later | 5.10.270, 5.15.221, 6.1.188, 6.6.157, 6.12.109, 6.18.50, 7.2.4, 7.3 | Patch available | CNA |
- Linux VendorLinux Affected 2.6.35 and later 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 Patch available CNA
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 |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | Affected | No fix planned: Out of support scope |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 | Affected | No fix yet |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 | Affected | No fix yet |
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-89542
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-h928-qw5v-x6vj
- 2026-10-05 EPSS moved to the below the 50th percentile
- 2026-10-18 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-10-19 Fix available: Linux/[email protected] · CNA
- 2026-10-30 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
References
Other 8
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/299d281c7225ded15b28cb861a98d818d82787fc
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/84ddbc8d084c0251d534f14f5d1a7da05be56404
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/075d7cfc4df8c54cb202ba8b28420370c03ba9b6
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/f2591660e0eb263c9415bf0d0bb1b111e62df7a4
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/dddcb0f4b7e27fac16a78ea9a1c8ec2e8a241087
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/806584a4b67a7233870c33e5b8f872e76dd02988
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/a7894e10572d53eb10109b8d07459cc8d3435811
- https://git.kernel.org/stable/c/6959297aaa9572783d620a226d73c3fb94494888
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Sources
- CVE-2026-89542 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-89542 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-h928-qw5v-x6vj · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-89542 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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