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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Authenticate to SSH with compression negotiated
  2. Delivery
    Multiplex attacker and victim channels on one connection
  3. Exploit
    Inject chosen-plaintext on controlled channel
  4. Execution
    Observe shared-dictionary compressed length deltas
  5. Impact
    Recover victim channel plaintext

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V6 - Authentication Timing-safe comparisons
Exploitation Conditions

Requires that SSH compression be negotiated on the connection (e.g., Compression enabled / zlib or zlib@openssh.com) AND that two or more channels be multiplexed over the same SSH connection so they share one LZ77 dictionary; the attacker must be an authenticated peer (PR:L) able to write chosen data on one channel while a victim's sensitive data traverses another. Exploitation is LIMITED by: authentication being required, high attack complexity (statistical chosen-plaintext length analysis, AC:H), the non-default nature of compression in many hardened OpenSSH configurations, and the need for a genuinely shared/multiplexed connection with attacker-controlled and victim channels co-resident.

Impact

This is a medium-severity information-disclosure side channel (CVSS 5.3, CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N) in OpenSSH's compression handling, where channels sharing one LZ77 dictionary leak plaintext across channels via chosen-plaintext length analysis. The signals are internally consistent and point to LOW real-world urgency despite the high confidentiality impact: the vector requires authentication (PR:L) and carries high attack complexity (AC:H) reflecting the chosen-plaintext/compression-oracle technique and the prerequisite that compression be negotiated and multiple channels be multiplexed on one connection. No EPSS score, no CISA KEV listing, and no public POC are present in the provided data - all three exploitation-pressure signals are absent, so there is no evidence of active or imminent exploitation. No signals conflict; rather, the high C impact is tempered by AC:H and PR:L, making this a 'high-impact-but-hard-to-exploit' issue rather than an emergency. Prioritize for routine patching on multi-tenant/jump-host systems where untrusted users share SSH connections; it is not a drop-everything item. Note the only sources are a Red Hat advisory and Bugzilla - upstream OpenSSH confirmation of affected versions and fix is not included in this data and should be verified.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

On a shared SSH deployment (e.g., a bastion or multiplexed connection) with compression negotiated, an authenticated attacker who controls data written to one channel observes compressed-output length variations to infer plaintext carried on a co-resident channel sharing the same LZ77 dictionary. By submitting chosen plaintext and measuring resulting length changes, they progressively recover secret bytes from the victim channel. No public exploit code is identified at time of analysis, and the AC:H rating reflects the statistical, chosen-plaintext effort required.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
Patch available 0.3% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Oct 15, 2026

An authenticated peer on an OpenSSH connection can recover plaintext belonging to another channel when SSH compression is negotiated, because all channels multiplexed over one connection share a single LZ77 dictionary and chosen-plaintext length analysis exposes the content of a victim channel's traffic. Affected deployments include OpenSSH as shipped in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, Red Hat Hardened Images, and Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4. Severity is medium (CVSS 5.3, CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N); exploitation requires authentication and is limited by high attack complexity, the non-default nature of compression in many hardened configurations, and the need for genuinely co-resident attacker and victim channels, and no public exploit code or confirmed active exploitation (CISA KEV) has been identified at time of analysis.

RemediationAI

No vendor-released patch with a confirmed fixed version is identified in the available data; monitor the Red Hat advisory at https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-110926 and the Bugzilla entry at https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2553035 for patched openssh packages and apply them to RHEL 6 through 10, Red Hat Hardened Images, and OpenShift Container Platform 4 hosts as they become available. Until then, the most effective compensating control is to disable SSH compression: set 'Compression no' in the client configuration and 'Compression no' (or the equivalent) in sshd_config and reload the SSH daemon, accepting the bandwidth cost of uncompressed transfers for the removed cross-channel leak. Do not use 'zlib' or 'zlib@openssh.com' in 'Compression' directives. Additionally, reduce channel co-residency risk by discouraging untrusted peers from sharing a single connection with sensitive sessions - disable or restrict connection multiplexing (ControlMaster/ControlPath on the client, and any shared-session forwarding patterns), and terminate or isolate connections that mix attacker-writable channels with privileged data channels. These measures trade convenience (multiplexed sessions and compression savings) for confidentiality, and should be validated against existing automation that relies on multiplexed SSH connections before wide deployment.

Affected VersionsENISA

Red Hat Hardened Images patch: 10.5p1-1.2.hum1

Affects your stack

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Technical ContextAI · show details

OpenSSH multiplexes multiple logical channels (for example an interactive session, port forwards, or SCP/SFTP transfers) over a single encrypted transport connection. When compression is negotiated - via 'zlib' or 'zlib@openssh.com' - the SSH implementation maintains one LZ77 sliding-window dictionary for the entire connection so that compressible data from any channel can reference strings already seen on any other channel, maximizing compression ratio. This design creates a cross-channel information leak: because compressed output length depends on whether attacker-supplied chosen plaintext matches portions of a victim's data already in the shared dictionary, an adversary who can write on one channel can infer plaintext from another channel by measuring chosen-plaintext output lengths, a technique conceptually similar to the CRIME and BREACH compression side channels against TLS and HTTP. The weakness is classified as CWE-203 (Observable Discrepancy), since secret-dependent behavior (compressed length) is externally observable; the confidentiality impact is rated high (C:H) while integrity and availability are unaffected, and the assessed vector requires a network position, high attack complexity (AC:H) for the statistical length analysis, and low privileges (PR:L) reflecting the need for an authenticated SSH peer with write access on at least one channel.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

Vendor (redhat) PRIMARY 5.3 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
vuln.today AI 5.3 MEDIUM

Network-reachable but requires authenticated channel access (PR:L) and a difficult chosen-plaintext compression oracle (AC:H); only confidentiality is affected, so I:N/A:N.

3.1 AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
4.0 AV:N/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Red Hat 5.3 MEDIUM

Primary rating from Vendor (redhat).

CVSS VectorVendor: redhat

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
High
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

DescriptionCVE.org

A flaw was found in OpenSSH. When compression is negotiated, channels on the same connection share one LZ77 dictionary. A peer who can write on one channel can recover plaintext from another channel by chosen-plaintext lengths.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.3%
Top 84% exploitable
Prevalence
Ubiquitous
OpenSSH is the default SSH implementation across virtually all Linux/Unix servers
Social Media
1
Sightings
Data Quality
5 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 MEDIUM
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.3%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)
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
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable
No
Human Impact· derived
High
Technical Impact
Partial

Priority Score

26
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +26
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.

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Vendor StatusVendor

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