Description
An issue was discovered in rcp in MIT krb5-appl through 1.0.3. Due to the rcp implementation being derived from 1983 rcp, the server chooses which files/directories are sent to the client. However, the rcp client only performs cursory validation of the object name returned (only directory traversal attacks are prevented). A malicious rcp server (or Man-in-The-Middle attacker) can overwrite arbitrary files in the rcp client target directory. If recursive operation (-r) is performed, the server can manipulate subdirectories as well (for example, to overwrite the .ssh/authorized_keys file). This issue is similar to CVE-2019-6111 and CVE-2019-7283. NOTE: MIT krb5-appl is not supported upstream but is shipped by a few Linux distributions. The affected code was removed from the supported MIT Kerberos 5 (aka krb5) product many years ago, at version 1.8.
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.
SUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLES 12 SP5 | krb5-appl | 1.0.3-3.6.1 | SUSE-SU-2021:0527-1 |
| SLES 12 SP4 | krb5-appl | 1.0.3-3.6.1 | SUSE-SU-2021:0527-1 |
| SLES 12 SP3 | krb5-appl | 1.0.3-3.6.1 | SUSE-SU-2021:0527-1 |
| SLES 12 SP2 | krb5-appl | 1.0.3-3.6.1 | SUSE-SU-2021:0527-1 |
Show 10 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLES for SAP 12 SP5 | krb5-appl | 1.0.3-3.6.1 | SUSE-SU-2021:0527-1 |
| SLES for SAP 12 SP4 | krb5-appl | 1.0.3-3.6.1 | SUSE-SU-2021:0527-1 |
| SLES for SAP 12 SP3 | krb5-appl | 1.0.3-3.6.1 | SUSE-SU-2021:0527-1 |
| SLES for SAP 12 SP2 | krb5-appl | 1.0.3-3.6.1 | SUSE-SU-2021:0527-1 |
| SUSE OpenStack Cloud Crowbar 9 | krb5-appl | 1.0.3-3.6.1 | SUSE-SU-2021:0527-1 |
| SUSE OpenStack Cloud Crowbar 8 | krb5-appl | 1.0.3-3.6.1 | SUSE-SU-2021:0527-1 |
| SUSE OpenStack Cloud 9 | krb5-appl | 1.0.3-3.6.1 | SUSE-SU-2021:0527-1 |
| SUSE OpenStack Cloud 8 | krb5-appl | 1.0.3-3.6.1 | SUSE-SU-2021:0527-1 |
| SUSE OpenStack Cloud 7 | krb5-appl | 1.0.3-3.6.1 | SUSE-SU-2021:0527-1 |
| SUSE HPE Helion OpenStack 8 | krb5-appl | 1.0.3-3.6.1 | SUSE-SU-2021:0527-1 |
Advisories 1
- SUSE-SU-2021:0527-1 Security update for krb5-appl SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026