Skip to main content
View

Attack ChainAIDerived

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

  1. Access
    Obtain unprivileged local account on SSSD host
  2. Delivery
    Loop NSS lookups for nonexistent entries
  3. Exploit
    Negative cache grows without bound
  4. Execution
    Exhaust responder memory
  5. Impact
    SSSD responder hangs or terminates (DoS)

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A06:2025 - Insecure Design
ASVS 5.0
V2 - Validation and Business Logic Resource allocation limits
MITRE ATT&CK

1 technique across 1 tactic: Impact

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Exploitation Conditions

Requires an interactive or unprivileged local account on a host running the SSSD daemon with the NSS responder enabled (SSSD's default responder for name resolution). The attacker exploits the negative-cache behavior by repeatedly requesting lookups for nonexistent NSS entries; no special non-default configuration is named in the description. Limiting factors that reduce realistic risk: exploitation is strictly LOCAL (no network vector), the attacker must already be authenticated as a local user (PR:L), and the only impact is availability of the SSSD responder - there is no confidentiality or integrity impact and no escalation of privilege. Impact is confined to hosts where SSSD mediates identity/authentication.

Impact

This is a moderate, availability-only Denial of Service issue, not a high-priority threat. The CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H, base 5.5) is internally consistent with the description: exploitation requires LOCAL access as an already-authenticated unprivileged user (PR:L), has low attack complexity, needs no user interaction, and impacts only availability (C:N/I:N) of the SSSD NSS responder. No EPSS score, CISA KEV listing, or POC was provided in the input; per the precision rules this means no public exploit identified at time of analysis and no evidence of active exploitation. The absence of a remote vector (AV:L) sharply limits real-world risk - an attacker must already have a local account on the host. There is no privilege escalation or data exposure; the worst outcome is the SSSD responder becoming unresponsive or terminating, which can disrupt authentication/identity resolution on the affected host. Signals are consistent (no conflict between CVSS and description), so this should be treated as routine patch-management priority rather than an emergency. Note: EPSS and KEV data were absent from the input and could not be independently verified.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

A logged-in unprivileged local user on a RHEL host running SSSD writes a simple loop that repeatedly queries the NSS responder for usernames or groups that do not exist (e.g. via getpwnam-style lookups for random names). Because the negative cache never caps its total size and only evicts expired records when an existing key is rechecked, memory consumption grows without bound until the SSSD responder is starved and crashes or hangs, denying identity/authentication services. No public exploit code was identified in the provided data, though the technique is trivial to script.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
No patch listed yet 0.1% exploitation probability (EPSS)

Get an e-mail when this CVE is exploited, patched or re-scored. Free account.

Alert me

AnalysisAIv1 – Oct 06, 2026

Unprivileged local users can exhaust memory in the SSSD NSS responder by repeatedly requesting lookups for nonexistent entries, causing denial of service on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 through 10 and Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4. The negative cache in SSSD lacks a bound on total stored entries and only evicts expired records when an existing key is rechecked, so the cache grows until the responder becomes unresponsive or terminates. This is a local, availability-only issue requiring an authenticated account (CVSS 5.5, PR:L); no public exploit code or active exploitation is identified at time of analysis.

RemediationAI

No vendor-released patch identified at time of analysis. Monitor the Red Hat advisory at https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-104041 and Bugzilla 2478864 for fixes. As compensating controls, restrict interactive local access to trusted users so that unprivileged accounts cannot generate large numbers of NSS lookups; the trade-off is reduced operational flexibility for legitimate users. Monitor memory usage of the sssd_nss process and restart SSSD (systemctl restart sssd) if memory grows abnormally, accepting a brief disruption to identity lookups. If supported by the SSSD version, consider reducing the negative cache lifetime to shrink the window for cache growth, but this increases backend query load and may impact performance. Apply vendor patches as soon as they are released.

Affects your stack

Find out whether the stacks and servers you run are on an affected version.

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

SSSD (System Security Services Daemon) provides identity and authentication services on Red Hat platforms. The NSS responder (sssd_nss) handles Name Service Switch lookups such as getpwnam and getgrnam, and it maintains a negative cache to avoid repeated backend queries for missing entries. The vulnerability is a CWE-770 (Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling) flaw: the negative cache has no maximum size, and expired records are only removed when their key is looked up again. An attacker with a local account can generate unique nonexistent names to fill the cache indefinitely, leading to memory exhaustion in the NSS responder process. CPE data lists Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, plus Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4, indicating broad exposure wherever SSSD's NSS responder is used for local identity resolution.

Know when Sssd gets its next vulnerability

  • Watch products and get an email when something new is published
  • Check this CVE against your own stack and servers
  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

No credit card · 7-day full trial

Severity by source

Vendor (redhat) PRIMARY 5.5 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
vuln.today AI 5.5 MEDIUM

Requires a local authenticated unprivileged account (AV:L, PR:L) issuing trivial repeated NSS queries (AC:L); only the responder's availability is affected (A:H, C/I:N).

3.1 AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
4.0 AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Red Hat 5.5 MEDIUM

Primary rating from Vendor (redhat).

CVSS VectorVendor: redhat

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

DescriptionCVE.org

A flaw was found in SSSD. An unprivileged local user can repeatedly request lookups for nonexistent entries through the Name Service Switch (NSS) responder. Because the negative cache does not limit the total number of stored entries and only removes expired records when an existing key is rechecked, the cache can grow without bound. This behavior can lead to memory exhaustion, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS) as the responder becomes unresponsive or terminates.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.1%
Top 99% exploitable
Prevalence
High
SSSD ships and runs by default on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, widely deployed in enterprises
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 0.1%
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
Defer
Exploitation
Poc
System Exposure· derived
Small
Automatable
No
Human Impact· derived
Medium
Technical Impact
Partial

Priority Score

28
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +28
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

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: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:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

Vendor StatusVendor

This site uses cookies essential for authentication and security. No tracking or analytics cookies are used. Privacy Policy