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Kerberos 5 CVE-2014-9421

CRITICAL
2015-02-19 cve@mitre.org
9.0
CVSS 2.0 · NVD
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Vulnerability Assessment

Impact

CVSS score of 9.0 (CRITICAL). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity. EPSS exploitation probability: 5.36%.

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.
No patch listed yet 5.4% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAI

The auth_gssapi_unwrap_data function in lib/rpc/auth_gssapi_misc.c in MIT Kerberos 5 (aka krb5) through 1.11.5, 1.12.x through 1.12.2, and 1.13.x before 1.13.1 does not properly handle partial XDR. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.0), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.

RemediationAI

No vendor patch is available at time of analysis. Monitor vendor advisories for updates. Apply vendor patches when available. Implement network segmentation and monitoring as interim mitigations.

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Technical ContextAI · show details

The auth_gssapi_unwrap_data function in lib/rpc/auth_gssapi_misc.c in MIT Kerberos 5 (aka krb5) through 1.11.5, 1.12.x through 1.12.2, and 1.13.x before 1.13.1 does not properly handle partial XDR deserialization, which allows remote authenticated users to cause a denial of service (use-after-free and double free, and daemon crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code via malformed XDR data, as demonstrated by data sent to kadmind. Affected products include: Mit Kerberos 5. Version information: through 1.11.5.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 9.0 CRITICAL
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:C/I:C/A:C

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

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

DescriptionCVE.org

The auth_gssapi_unwrap_data function in lib/rpc/auth_gssapi_misc.c in MIT Kerberos 5 (aka krb5) through 1.11.5, 1.12.x through 1.12.2, and 1.13.x before 1.13.1 does not properly handle partial XDR deserialization, which allows remote authenticated users to cause a denial of service (use-after-free and double free, and daemon crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code via malformed XDR data, as demonstrated by data sent to kadmind.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
5.4%
Top 10% exploitable
Data Quality
4 sources
Confidence: Medium

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 5.4%
Patch available No
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

50
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: +5
CVSS: +45
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Insecure deserialization occurs when an application converts serialized data (a stream of bytes representing an object's state) back into a living object without proper validation.

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_5:1.11:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:1.11.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:1.11.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:1.11.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:1.11.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:1.11.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:1.12:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:1.12.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:1.12.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:1.13:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
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