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Attack ChainAIDerived

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

  1. Access
    Hold prior valid account on SSSD host
  2. Delivery
    Account deleted/deprovisioned in LDAP
  3. Exploit
    User lookup returns zero results
  4. Execution
    Fail-open ppolicy check returns success
  5. Persist
    Allow decision cached
  6. Impact
    Retain unauthorized access to resources

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A10:2025 - Mishandling of Exceptional Conditions
ASVS 5.0
V8 - Authorization Insufficient permission handling
Exploitation Conditions

Requires SSSD configured with the LDAP access provider AND ldap_access_order containing 'ppolicy' or 'lockout' - this is not the default access-control path and must be explicitly set. The fail-open only triggers when a user lookup returns zero results (i.e., the account has been deleted or deprovisioned in the directory). The attacker must possess prior valid account context on the SSSD-managed host (PR:L); there is no path for a never-authorized external attacker. This is fundamentally an offboarding/deprovisioning-integrity flaw, which sharply limits the exploit population to formerly-legitimate users on hosts using the specific ppolicy/lockout access configuration.

Impact

The CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N = 5.4 Medium) describes a network-reachable flaw requiring low privileges - specifically, the attacker must already hold a valid account context that is subsequently deprovisioned. This is not a mass-exploitable primitive: no EPSS score, KEV listing, or public PoC was supplied, so exploitation status is 'no public exploit identified at time of analysis.' The core issue is a fail-open access-control defect (CWE-280, improper handling of insufficient privileges), not a memory-corruption or RCE bug, and impact is bounded to C:L/I:L with no availability impact. The realistic risk is a specific insider/offboarding-integrity problem: a deleted or deprovisioned user retaining cached authorization rather than an external unauthenticated breach. This is a genuine but moderate-priority hygiene/deprovisioning risk, aligned with its Medium rating - not a high-CVSS-but-overstated issue, but also not urgent absent evidence of exploitation. Key missing signals: no fix version, EPSS, KEV, or PoC data is provided in the input, so patch-availability and exploitation likelihood cannot be independently confirmed.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

A user with a previously valid account authenticates against an SSSD-backed host configured with the LDAP access provider and ldap_access_order including ppolicy or lockout. After the account is deleted or deprovisioned in the directory, the user lookup returns zero results, triggering the fail-open ppolicy check that returns success and caches an allow decision - so the former user continues to authenticate and access resources. No public exploit code was identified; exploitation requires the specific configuration and prior account context rather than a crafted payload.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
No patch listed yet 0.3% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Sep 22, 2026

Deleted or deprovisioned users can retain authorization on hosts running SSSD with the LDAP access provider when ldap_access_order includes ppolicy or lockout, because a user lookup that returns zero results trips a fail-open path that reports success and caches an allow decision. A remote attacker who already holds valid account context on the SSSD-managed host (authenticated, PR:L) can exploit this after offboarding to keep reading information and make limited modifications, giving low confidentiality and integrity impact (CVSS 3.1 5.4 Medium). The flaw only affects non-default access configurations that explicitly enable ppolicy/lockout ordering, and no public exploit identified at time of analysis.

RemediationAI

No vendor-released patch identified at time of analysis; monitor https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-90462 and https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2479483 for errata and apply the SSSD update for your RHEL/OpenShift stream as soon as it ships. Until then, remove ppolicy and lockout from ldap_access_order in sssd.conf (for example, rely on the default filter check with an explicit ldap_access_filter) and restart SSSD; the trade-off is that password-policy and lockout state is no longer consulted at access time, so directory-side account disabling must be enforced through directory ACLs and the access filter itself. Because the vulnerable behavior caches an allow decision, deleting the account in LDAP is not sufficient - after any deprovisioning you must invalidate the host-local cache with sss_cache -u <user> (or clear the SSSD cache) and restart SSSD so the stale allow verdict cannot be replayed; this is host-local and only as good as your offboarding runbook. Treat this as an offboarding-integrity problem: audit for successful authentications by accounts that no longer exist in the directory, and where PPPolicy enforcement is mandatory, consider fronting SSSD with an alternative access provider or a directory-side control that denies lookups for removed users rather than relying on the LDAP ppolicy access check.

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Technical ContextAI · show details

SSSD (System Security Services Daemon) brokers identity and access decisions for Linux hosts, and its LDAP access provider evaluates whether a user may log in by running the checks listed in ldap_access_order. When that list includes ppolicy or lockout, SSSD asks the directory for the account's password-policy/lockout state; if the lookup returns zero results - the normal outcome for an account that has been deleted or deprovisioned - the code path fails open, returns success, and the allow verdict is cached by SSSD. The root-cause class is CWE-280 (Improper Handling of Insufficient Privileges): a missing/empty result is treated as an affirmative authorization rather than a denial. This is not the default access-control path on RHEL; it must be explicitly configured, and the cached allow decision means the stale authorization can outlive the directory-side deletion. The vendor CPE data covers Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 plus Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4, i.e. all supported RHEL generations that ship SSSD, which is consistent with a long-lived access-control code path rather than a single-version regression.

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Severity by source

Vendor (redhat) PRIMARY 5.4 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
vuln.today AI 5.4 MEDIUM

Attacker holds prior valid account context (PR:L) over the network (AV:N); fail-open triggers naturally on deprovisioned lookups (AC:L); bounded confidentiality and integrity impact, no availability effect.

3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
4.0 AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
SUSE MEDIUM
Red Hat 5.4 MEDIUM

Primary rating from Vendor (redhat).

CVSS VectorVendor: redhat

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

DescriptionCVE.org

A flaw was found in SSSD. When configured with the LDAP access provider and ldap_access_order including ppolicy or lockout, a fail-open condition in the LDAP ppolicy access check can occur if a user lookup returns zero results. This can incorrectly return success and cache an allow decision, permitting continued authorization for a deleted or deprovisioned user. A remote attacker with prior valid account context could exploit this to maintain access to information and potentially make limited modifications to resources that should no longer be available.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.3%
Top 78% exploitable
Prevalence
High
SSSD is the default LDAP/AD identity daemon across all supported RHEL and OpenShift deployments
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 No
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
Poc
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable
No
Human Impact· derived
High
Technical Impact
Partial

Priority Score

27
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +27
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.

Affected Products (CPE)CVE.org

cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:red_hat_enterprise_linux_10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:red_hat_enterprise_linux_6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:red_hat_enterprise_linux_7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:red_hat_enterprise_linux_8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:red_hat_enterprise_linux_9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:red_hat_openshift_container_platform_4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:red_hat:red_hat_openshift_container_platform_4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

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Vendor StatusVendor

SUSE

Severity: Moderate
Product Status
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.4 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.5 Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 Affected

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