Description
The reply function in ftpd.c in the gssftp ftpd in MIT Kerberos 5 (krb5) does not initialize the length variable when auth_type has a certain value, which has unknown impact and remote authenticated attack vectors. NOTE: the original disclosure misidentifies the conditions under which the uninitialized variable is used. NOTE: the vendor disputes this issue, stating " The 'length' variable is only uninitialized if 'auth_type' is neither the 'KERBEROS_V4' nor 'GSSAPI'; this condition cannot occur in the unmodified source code.
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 | krb5 | 1.6.dfsg.4~beta1-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | krb5 | 1.6.dfsg.4~beta1-1 | — |
| Debian 12 | krb5 | 1.6.dfsg.4~beta1-1 | — |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | krb5 | 1.19.2-2.2 | openSUSE-SU-2024:10899-1 |
Advisories 1
- openSUSE-SU-2024:10899-1 krb5-1.19.2-2.2 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
References
- 29457 third-party-advisory
- SUSE-SR:2008:002 vendor-advisory
- 26750 vdb-entry
- http://wiki.rpath.com/Advisories:rPSA-2008-0112
- 20071208 Venustech reports of MIT krb5 vulns [CVE-2007-5894 CVE-2007-5901 CVE-2007-5902 CVE-2007-5971 CVE-2007-5972] mailing-list
- http://wiki.rpath.com/wiki/Advisories:rPSA-2008-0112
- 20080319 rPSA-2008-0112-1 krb5 krb5-server krb5-services krb5-test krb5-workstation mailing-list
- http://bugs.gentoo.org/show_bug.cgi?id=199205
- 20071208 MIT Kerberos 5: Multiple vulnerabilities mailing-list
- 44333 vdb-entry
- 28636 third-party-advisory
- https://issues.rpath.com/browse/RPL-2012