CVE-2026-89542
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.
No affected software listed.
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A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.
CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.
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