CVE-2026-40355

krb5: MIT Kerberos 5: Denial of Service via NULL pointer dereference in NegoEx mechanism

Published Apr 28, 2026 CVSS 3.1 · 5.9 Medium EPSS < 1% KEV · Not listed
Description
In MIT Kerberos 5 (aka krb5) before 1.22.3, there is a NULL pointer dereference if an application calls gss_accept_sec_context() on a system with a NegoEx mechanism registered in /etc/gss/mech. An unauthenticated remote attacker can trigger this, causing the process to terminate in parse_nego_message.

Remediation

No solution or workaround provided in the CVE record

Tracking

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Advisories

Source ID Title
Debian DLA Debian DLA DLA-4603-1 krb5 security update
Debian DSA Debian DSA DSA-6293-1 krb5 security update
Ubuntu USN Ubuntu USN USN-8585-1 Kerberos vulnerabilities
History
Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'poc', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Type Values Removed Values Added
Title krb5: MIT Kerberos 5: Denial of Service via NULL pointer dereference in NegoEx mechanism
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

threat_severity

Moderate

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description In MIT Kerberos 5 (aka krb5) before 1.22.3, there is a NULL pointer dereference if an application calls gss_accept_sec_context() on a system with a NegoEx mechanism registered in /etc/gss/mech. An unauthenticated remote attacker can trigger this, causing the process to terminate in parse_nego_message.
First Time appeared Mit
Mit kerberos 5
Weaknesses CWE-476
CPEs cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
Vendors & Products Mit
Mit kerberos 5
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 5.9, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}

Weaknesses

Sources

Status
PUBLISHED
Assigner
mitre
Published
Updated
Nov 10, 2026, 12:45 PM
Reserved
Apr 11, 2026, 12:00 AM
Status
Modified
Published
Apr 28, 2026, 6:16 AM
Modified
Nov 10, 2026, 1:19 PM
Severity
Moderate
Public date
Apr 28, 2026, 12:00 AM