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Kerberos 5 CVE-2012-1015

CRITICAL
Improper Input Validation (CWE-20)
2012-08-06 cve@mitre.org
9.3
CVSS 2.0 · NVD
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Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A05:2025 - Injection
ASVS 5.0
V2 - Validation and Business Logic Input validation, allowlisting
Impact

CVSS score of 9.3 (CRITICAL). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, M complexity. EPSS exploitation probability: 1.23%.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

This vulnerability can be exploited remotely over the network. Successful exploitation could compromise the critical-severity affected system.

Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Why: CRITICAL severity.
Patch available 1.2% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAI

The kdc_handle_protected_negotiation function in the Key Distribution Center (KDC) in MIT Kerberos 5 (aka krb5) 1.8.x, 1.9.x before 1.9.5, and 1.10.x before 1.10.3 attempts to calculate a checksum. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.3), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable.

RemediationAI

A vendor patch is available. Apply the latest security update as soon as possible. Apply vendor patches when available. Implement network segmentation and monitoring as interim mitigations.

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Technical ContextAI · show details

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-20. The kdc_handle_protected_negotiation function in the Key Distribution Center (KDC) in MIT Kerberos 5 (aka krb5) 1.8.x, 1.9.x before 1.9.5, and 1.10.x before 1.10.3 attempts to calculate a checksum before verifying that the key type is appropriate for a checksum, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (uninitialized pointer free, heap memory corruption, and daemon crash) via a crafted AS-REQ request. Affected products include: Mit Kerberos 5. Version information: before 1.9.5.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 9.3 CRITICAL
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
M
Confidentiality
C
Integrity
C
Availability
C

DescriptionCVE.org

The kdc_handle_protected_negotiation function in the Key Distribution Center (KDC) in MIT Kerberos 5 (aka krb5) 1.8.x, 1.9.x before 1.9.5, and 1.10.x before 1.10.3 attempts to calculate a checksum before verifying that the key type is appropriate for a checksum, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (uninitialized pointer free, heap memory corruption, and daemon crash) via a crafted AS-REQ request.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
1.2%
Top 21% exploitable
Data Quality
3 sources
Confidence: Low

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity CRITICAL
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 1.2%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
CRITICAL severity
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable· derived
No
Human Impact· derived
Medium

Priority Score

47
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: +1
CVSS: +46
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

A buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a memory buffer than it was allocated to hold, causing the excess data to spill into adjacent memory regions.

Remote Code Execution represents the critical moment when an attacker successfully runs arbitrary code on a target system without physical access.

Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.

Affected Products (CPE)CVE.org

cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:1.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:1.8.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:1.8.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:1.8.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:1.8.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:1.8.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:1.8.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:1.9.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:1.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:1.10.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:1.10.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
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