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CVE-2026-64439
crypto: krb5 - filter out async aead implementations at alloc
Published 2026-07-25 (3 months ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem crypto/krb5. Debian urgency: unimportant.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-64439 in every release this site tracks, and what each one means in practice. Every status below is the one the Debian Security Team publishes for this CVE. source
| Release | Status | Version | What this means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 12bookworm | not affected | 6.1.190-1 | Nothing to do. bookworm never shipped the vulnerable code. |
| Debian 13trixie | not affected | 6.12.113-1 | Nothing to do. trixie never shipped the vulnerable code. |
| Debian 14forky | fixed | 7.1.4-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.1.4-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian unstablesid | fixed | 7.1.4-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.1.4-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
krb5_aead_encrypt(), krb5_aead_decrypt() in rfc3961_simplified.c and rfc8009_encrypt(), rfc8009_decrypt() in rfc8009_aes2.c set a NULL completion callback and treat any negative return from crypto_aead_{encrypt,decrypt}() as terminal, falling through to kfree_sensitive(buffer). When the encrypt_name resolves to an async AEAD instance the request returns -EINPROGRESS, the buffer is freed while the backend's worker still holds a pointer, and the worker dereferences the freed slab on completion. KASAN report under UML+SLUB with a synthetic async aead backend bound to krb5->encrypt_name: BUG: KASAN: slab-use-after-free in t5_stub_complete+0x7d/0xc7 The helpers were written synchronously, so filter the async instances out at allocation time instead of plumbing crypto_wait_req() through every call site. Reachable via net/rxrpc/rxgk.c, fs/afs/cm_security.c and net/ceph/crypto.c on systems with an async AEAD provider bound to the krb5 enctype name.
Where it lives
The fix touches these files. If the subsystem is one you do not use, the practical exposure is lower, though the package is still the vulnerable one.
crypto/krb5/krb5_api.c
- What this is
- CRYPTO APIMAINTAINERS section matched on crypto/ · linux-crypto@vger.kernel.org · Maintained
- Kernel module
- krb5
Check it on the machine
grep -w CONFIG_CRYPTO_KRB5 /boot/config-$(uname -r)Reads the booted kernel's own configuration, on the machine and nowhere else. =y is built in, =m is a module, and an is not set line means the code is not there.
lsmod | grep -w krb5Prints a line if that module is loaded right now, and nothing if it is not. One that is not loaded can still be loaded later by anything that needs it.
Show whether Debian builds this, per release
Debian builds this as a loadable module. Every release with an answer below compiles it as a module on every flavour, so whether the code is in the running kernel depends on whether that module is loaded. The build rule could not be established for 2 releases, so nothing is claimed about those.
- bookworm, trixie?
- forky, sidm
- ?
- not established - no Makefile entry for the affected file
- m
- a loadable module on every flavour - check lsmod, can be blacklisted
Where a release above reads "not established", no build rule for the affected file was found in that release's kernel tree. That is a gap in this lookup, not a finding that the code is absent.
- Build switch
- CONFIG_CRYPTO_KRB5
From the configuration Debian publishes for every kernel flavour it builds. It covers only the architectures Debian ships a linux-config package for, and nothing about a kernel you built yourself. Debian's own status above stays authoritative about the source package.MAINTAINERS kbuild Makefiles Debian linux-config packages
Signals
- Published
- 2026-07-25 (3 months ago)source
- CVSS
- 9.8 critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:Hsource recompute it - Attack vector
- network (AV:N)source
- EPSS
- 0.63%, higher than 49.2% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- unimportantsource
- Subsystem
- crypto/krb5
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 6.15 | 6.18.39 | ef6feb77e2d9 |
| 6.15 | 7.1.4 | 2b7bd6dccff1 |
| 6.15 | 7.2 | 6c9dddeb582f |
Why the CNA scored it this way
Quoted from the kernel CNA's own scoring file, word for word. A highlighted metric carries the most severe value CVSS v3.1 defines for it, which is what pushes the score up. source
- AV:NAttack vector, network
- An unauthenticated remote peer can reach the vulnerable Kerberos decrypt helper through the UDP RxRPC/RxGK RESPONSE path; Ceph and AFS also expose network-driven paths.
- AC:LAttack complexity, low
- Once an async AEAD implementation is selected, each accepted operation can return -EINPROGRESS and trigger the UAF. The attacker controls and can repeatedly invoke the packet flow, enabling heap grooming and race amplification.
- PR:NPrivileges required, none
- RxGK decrypts the attacker-supplied token before validating the ticket, nonce, or authenticator. Looking up an installed server key selects the cipher but does not authenticate the peer.
- UI:NUser interaction, none
- A listening service processes the challenge and malicious response automatically without any victim action.
- S:UScope, unchanged
- Exploitation compromises resources governed by the same host kernel security authority and does not inherently cross a VM, IOMMU, or equivalent boundary.
- C:HConfidentiality impact, high
- The freed request contains transform, callback, context, IV, and scatterlist-related state that can be reclaimed or accessed asynchronously, supporting controlled kernel-memory disclosure.
- I:HIntegrity impact, high
- The backend can write through stale scatterlist pointers, while reclaimed callback and request fields can enable arbitrary memory corruption or control-flow hijacking.
- A:HAvailability impact, high
- The async worker dereferences freed or zeroed request state, allowing a repeatable kernel oops or panic; the defect has also been directly observed as a KASAN slab use-after-free.