CVE-2026-89542

CRITICALCVSS 9.8/10EPSS 0.46%

Last modified

CVE-2026-89542 is a critical-severity vulnerability rated 9.8/10 on the CVSS scale. 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.. EPSS estimates a 0.46% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

Description

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.

Metrics

EPSS Probability
0.46%

38.8th percentile

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days. Learn more

Affected Software

Source: CNA advisory (CVE.org). NVD analysis pending.

VendorProductVersions
LinuxLinux>= de9c17eb4a912c9028f7b470eb80815144883b26, < 299d281c7225ded15b28cb861a98d818d82787fc; >= de9c17eb4a912c9028f7b470eb80815144883b26, < 84ddbc8d084c0251d534f14f5d1a7da05be56404; >= de9c17eb4a912c9028f7b470eb80815144883b26, < 075d7cfc4df8c54cb202ba8b28420370c03ba9b6; >= de9c17eb4a912c9028f7b470eb80815144883b26, < f2591660e0eb263c9415bf0d0bb1b111e62df7a4; >= de9c17eb4a912c9028f7b470eb80815144883b26, < dddcb0f4b7e27fac16a78ea9a1c8ec2e8a241087; >= de9c17eb4a912c9028f7b470eb80815144883b26, < 806584a4b67a7233870c33e5b8f872e76dd02988; >= de9c17eb4a912c9028f7b470eb80815144883b26, < a7894e10572d53eb10109b8d07459cc8d3435811; >= de9c17eb4a912c9028f7b470eb80815144883b26, < 6959297aaa9572783d620a226d73c3fb94494888
LinuxLinux2.6.35

References

Timeline

Published
Last Modified
Status
Received

Frequently Asked Questions

What is 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.
How severe is CVE-2026-89542?
CVE-2026-89542 has a CVSS score of 9.8/10 (CRITICAL severity). The EPSS model estimates a 0.46% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How do I fix CVE-2026-89542?
Check the vendor references and advisories linked above for patched versions and mitigation guidance. You can also run a Strix scan to test if your systems are affected.

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Source: NVD / NIST