Description
The kadm_ser_in function in (1) the Kerberos v4compatibility administration daemon (kadmind4) in the MIT Kerberos 5 (krb5) krb5-1.2.6 and earlier, (2) kadmind in KTH Kerberos 4 (eBones) before 1.2.1, and (3) kadmind in KTH Kerberos 5 (Heimdal) before 0.5.1 when compiled with Kerberos 4 support, does not properly verify the length field of a request, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a buffer overflow attack.
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | heimdal | 0.4e-22 | — |
| Debian 14 | krb5 | 1.2.6-2 | — |
| Debian 13 | heimdal | 0.4e-22 | — |
| Debian 13 | krb5 | 1.2.6-2 | — |
| Debian 12 | heimdal | 0.4e-22 | — |
| Debian 12 | krb5 | 1.2.6-2 | — |
| Debian 3.0 | heimdal | 0.4e-7.woody.5 | DSA-185 |
| Debian 3.0 | krb4 | 1.1-8-2.2 | DSA-184 |
| Debian 3.0 | krb5 | 1.2.4-5woody3 | DSA-183 |
Advisories 3
- DSA-183 krb5 - buffer overflow Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 9, 2026
- DSA-185 heimdal - buffer overflow Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 9, 2026
- DSA-184 krb4 - buffer overflow Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 9, 2026
References
- 20021026 Updated: MITKRB5-SA-2002-002: Buffer overflow in kadmind4 mailing-list
- MDKSA-2002:073 vendor-advisory
- 20021027 Re: Buffer overflow in kadmind4 mailing-list
- 20021023 MITKRB5-SA-2002-002: Buffer overflow in kadmind4 mailing-list
- http://web.mit.edu/kerberos/www/advisories/MITKRB5-SA-2002-002-kadm4.txt
- DSA-185 vendor-advisory
- http://web.mit.edu/kerberos/www/advisories/2002-002-kadm4_attacksig.txt
- 20021028 GLSA: krb5 mailing-list
- DSA-183 vendor-advisory
- kerberos-kadmind-bo(10430) vdb-entry
- CLA-2002:534 vendor-advisory
- CA-2002-29 third-party-advisory
- DSA-184 vendor-advisory
- http://www.pdc.kth.se/heimdal/
- VU#875073 third-party-advisory
- RHSA-2002:242 vendor-advisory
- 20021027 KRB5-SORCERER2002-10-27 Security Update mailing-list
- 6024 vdb-entry