CVE-2026-18922

389-ds-base: 389-ds-base: sasl plain authentication allows privilege escalation to directory manager via stale identity in cyrus sasl auxiliary property

Published Sep 7, 2026 CVSS 3.1 · 9.8 Critical EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
A flaw was found in 389 Directory Server. During SASL PLAIN authentication, a stale identity carried in a Cyrus SASL auxiliary property from a prior failed bind attempt can be installed on a connection following a subsequent, unrelated successful bind, regardless of which SASL mechanism completes that second bind. An attacker can send a SASL PLAIN bind as cn=Directory Manager with an incorrect password, then complete a SASL ANONYMOUS bind on the same connection, causing the server to grant Directory Manager authority without any valid credentials. A variant using a valid low-privileged account's own successful bind instead of an anonymous one is also possible.

Remediation

Vendor Workaround

Administrators can restrict nsslapd-allowed-sasl-mechanisms to only the mechanisms actually required (e.g. GSSAPI, EXTERNAL, GSS-SPNEGO), excluding PLAIN. Since the exploit chain requires the first bind attempt to be a failed SASL PLAIN bind as cn=Directory Manager, removing PLAIN from the allowed mechanism list prevents that step entirely — this blocks both the originally reported variant (valid low-privileged account) and the zero-credential SASL ANONYMOUS variant, since both depend on the same initial PLAIN bind to plant the stale identity.

Tracking

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Advisories

No advisories available
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
CPEs cpe:/a:redhat:directory_server_e4s:11.5::el8
References
Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Redhat redhat Directory Server
Vendors & Products Redhat redhat Directory Server
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'total'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
CPEs cpe:/a:redhat:directory_server:11
cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:10
cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:6
cpe:/a:redhat:directory_server:11.9::el8
cpe:/a:redhat:directory_server_e4s:12.4::el9
cpe:/a:redhat:rhel_aus:8.6::appstream
cpe:/a:redhat:rhel_eus_long_life:8.6::appstream
cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:10.2
cpe:/o:redhat:rhel_els:6
References
Type Values Removed Values Added
CPEs cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:9 cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:9::appstream
cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:9::crb
References
Type Values Removed Values Added
CPEs cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8 cpe:/a:redhat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream
References
Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Redhat enterprise Linux Eus
Redhat rhel Eus
CPEs cpe:/a:redhat:rhel_eus:9.6::appstream
cpe:/a:redhat:rhel_eus:9.6::crb
cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux_eus:10.0
Vendors & Products Redhat enterprise Linux Eus
Redhat rhel Eus
References
Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Redhat directory Server E4s
Redhat rhel Aus
Redhat rhel E4s
Redhat rhel Eus Long Life
Redhat rhel Tus
CPEs cpe:/a:redhat:directory_server_e4s:11.7::el8
cpe:/a:redhat:directory_server_e4s:12.2::el9
cpe:/a:redhat:rhel_aus:8.4::appstream
cpe:/a:redhat:rhel_e4s:8.8::appstream
cpe:/a:redhat:rhel_e4s:9.2::appstream
cpe:/a:redhat:rhel_e4s:9.4::appstream
cpe:/a:redhat:rhel_eus_long_life:8.4::appstream
cpe:/a:redhat:rhel_tus:8.8::appstream
Vendors & Products Redhat directory Server E4s
Redhat rhel Aus
Redhat rhel E4s
Redhat rhel Eus Long Life
Redhat rhel Tus
References
Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Redhat rhel Els
CPEs cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7 cpe:/o:redhat:rhel_els:7
Vendors & Products Redhat rhel Els
References
Type Values Removed Values Added
Description A flaw was found in 389 Directory Server. During SASL PLAIN authentication, a stale identity carried in a Cyrus SASL auxiliary property from a prior failed bind attempt can be installed on a connection following a subsequent, unrelated successful bind, regardless of which SASL mechanism completes that second bind. An attacker can send a SASL PLAIN bind as cn=Directory Manager with an incorrect password, then complete a SASL ANONYMOUS bind on the same connection, causing the server to grant Directory Manager authority without any valid credentials. A variant using a valid low-privileged account's own successful bind instead of an anonymous one is also possible.
Title 389-ds-base: 389-ds-base: sasl plain authentication allows privilege escalation to directory manager via stale identity in cyrus sasl auxiliary property
First Time appeared Redhat
Redhat directory Server
Redhat enterprise Linux
Weaknesses CWE-287
CPEs cpe:/a:redhat:directory_server:11
cpe:/a:redhat:directory_server:12
cpe:/a:redhat:directory_server:13
cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:10
cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:6
cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7
cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8
cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:9
Vendors & Products Redhat
Redhat directory Server
Redhat enterprise Linux
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 9.8, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}