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CVE-2026-89550
SUNRPC: svcauth_gss: enforce krb5 token minimum length
Published 2026-09-11 (37 days ago) by the Linux kernel CNA. Subsystem net/sunrpc. Debian urgency: not yet assigned.
What to do, per Debian release
Debian's own status for CVE-2026-89550 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 | vulnerable | 6.1.190-1 | No fix published anywhere yet, neither in Debian nor upstream for the series bookworm tracks. Watch the Debian tracker page for this CVE. Advisories for bookworm have historically landed a median of 23 days after publication. |
| Debian 13trixie | fixedDSA-6528-1 · 2026-09-29 · text | 6.12.111-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. DSA-6528-1 shipped the fix on 2026-09-29, in 6.12.111-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 14forky | fixed | 7.2.6-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.6-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian unstablesid | fixed | 7.2.6-1 | Update the kernel and reboot. Fixed in 7.2.6-1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
| Debian 12bookworm · linux-6.12 | fixedDLA-4817-1 · 2026-10-04 · text | 6.12.111-1~deb12u1 | Update the kernel and reboot. DLA-4817-1 shipped the fix on 2026-10-04, in 6.12.111-1~deb12u1. A running kernel keeps the old code until the machine restarts. |
The vulnerability
What the bug is
svcauth_gss_unwrap_priv() validates only an upper bound on the wire-supplied opaque length before handing the buffer to gss_unwrap(): if (len > xdr_stream_remaining(xdr)) goto unwrap_failed; offset = xdr_stream_pos(xdr); ... maj_stat = gss_unwrap(ctx, offset, offset + len, buf); The wire value `len` flows unchanged as the upper bound into the krb5 unwrap path, so a len in [0, 16] passes this check and is handed to gss_unwrap(). For a krb5 v2 context that lands in gss_krb5_unwrap_v2(), which reads the 16-byte RFC 4121 token header fields at ptr+4 and ptr+6 and then calls rotate_left() before any integrity check. With a sub-header length the header reads run past the token, and _rotate_left()'s `shift %= buf->len` path can divide by zero when buf->len has been driven to zero by the truncated token. A header-only token (len == 16) is equally invalid: with a non-zero RRC field and the opaque blob ending at the XDR buffer boundary, rotate_left() builds a zero-length subbuffer, reaching the same division. Reject the token at the server entry point before it reaches the krb5 unwrap core. A valid sealed RFC 4121 token must contain the 16-byte header plus at least some encrypted payload. Fix by adding a minimum-length check immediately after the existing upper-bound check: if (len <= GSS_KRB5_TOK_HDR_LEN) goto unwrap_failed;
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.
net/sunrpc/auth_gss/svcauth_gss.c
- What this is
- KERNEL NFSD, SUNRPC, AND LOCKD SERVERSMAINTAINERS section matched on net/sunrpc/ · linux-nfs@vger.kernel.org · Supported
- Kernel module
- auth_rpcgss
Check it on the machine
grep -wE 'CONFIG_SUNRPC|CONFIG_SUNRPC_GSS' /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 auth_rpcgssPrints 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 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.
- bookworm, trixie, forky, sid, bookworm · linux-6.12m
- m
- a loadable module on every flavour - check lsmod, can be blacklisted
- Build switches
- CONFIG_SUNRPC, CONFIG_SUNRPC_GSS
- Reads as
- all on means the file is compiled; any one off means it is not.
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
- 2026-09-11 (37 days 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
- 0.46%, higher than 38.2% of all CVEssource
- CISA KEV
- not listedthe KEV catalogue
- Debian urgency
- not yet assignedsource
- Subsystem
- net/sunrpc
Upstream fixes
The versions the CNA records as introducing and fixing this, and the commit for each. source
| Introduced | Fixed in | Commit |
|---|---|---|
| 2.6.18 | 6.6.157 | 0ea5b0c7f212 |
| 2.6.18 | 6.12.109 | dd6afc6cab8c |
| 2.6.18 | 6.18.50 | de942dd8c2c8 |
| 2.6.18 | 7.2.4 | 2eed1e6a976a |
| 2.6.18 | 7.3 | a919c5c88769 |
Debian advisories
| Advisory | Date | Shipped to | Debian |
|---|---|---|---|
| DLA-4817-1 | 2026-10-04 | bookworm 6.12.111-1~deb12u1 | tracker |
| DSA-6528-1 | 2026-09-29 | trixie 6.12.111-1 | tracker |
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
- svcauth_gss_unwrap_priv() is reached from in-kernel nfsd over TCP/2049 (svc_authenticate → svcauth_gss_accept) and from the NFSv4.0 RPC_AUTH_GSS callback service, so a remote RPCSEC_GSS peer delivers the short krb5 wrap token over the network.
- AC:LAttack complexity, low
- A single RPCSEC_GSS DATA Call with gc_svc=PRIVACY and opaque length in [0, 16] plus a non-zero RRC in the cleartext RFC 4121 header deterministically hits gss_krb5_unwrap_v2() rotate_left() u32 wrap and shift%=0; no race or attacker-uncontrollable layout is required.
- PR:NPrivileges required, none
- A malicious NFS server that already shares a krb5p GSS context can send a crafted NFSv4.0 GSS callback into the client's svcauth_gss_unwrap_priv() with no account or capability on the victim. That peer path is the highest-severity reachability.
- UI:NUser interaction, none
- nfsd unwraps the Call in the service thread with no local user action. On the client, the NFSv4.0 GSS callback path runs from the callback service thread once an NFS/RPCSEC_GSS mount exists; no additional mount, click, or open is required at attack time.
- S:UScope, unchanged
- The out-of-bounds accesses, divide-by-zero, and underflowed memmove corrupt host kernel SUNRPC/GSS state on the machine processing the RPC. This is ordinary same-host kernel impact, not a VM escape, IOMMU bypass, or other changed-scope boundary.
- C:HConfidentiality impact, high
- Short tokens make gss_krb5_unwrap_v2() read EC/RRC past the token, and the dead BUG_ON lets unsigned movelen underflow into a ~UINT_MAX-byte memmove that copies kernel memory beyond the receive head; that unbounded read is C:H per kernel CNA memory-corruption guidance.
- I:HIntegrity impact, high
- The same underflowed memmove() writes near 4GiB through the RPC receive head, an out-of-bounds write exploitable for control-flow hijack. rotate_left() also ignores xdr_buf_subsegment() failure after u32 wrap and then writes through a subbuf whose length has wrapped.
- A:HAvailability impact, high
- _rotate_left() does shift %= buf->len on a zero-length subbuffer (header-only token at the XDR boundary), a divide-by-zero oops/panic; the UINT_MAX memmove and wrapped-length rotate loop hang or oops nfsd/callback threads, and the attacker can repeat the RPC to deny service.