CVE-2026-107778: NULL Pointer Dereference in MIT krb5
Description
CVE-2026-107778 is a high-severity vulnerability in MIT Kerberos 5 (krb5) up to version 1.22.2. It involves a NULL pointer dereference in the make_cred_list() function within rd_cred.c. Authenticated Kerberos clients can exploit this by sending mismatched KRB-CRED arrays, specifically forwarded credentials with more tickets than ticket_info entries, causing a crash in GSS-API acceptor services and resulting in denial of service.
CVSS v4.0
Score 7.1high
Affected software
MIT
krb5
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AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
MIT Kerberos 5 (krb5) versions up to 1.22.2 contain a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability in the make_cred_list() function in rd_cred.c. This flaw allows authenticated clients to cause a denial of service by sending forwarded credentials with a greater number of tickets than ticket_info entries through the gss_accept_sec_context() function. The mismatch triggers a NULL pointer dereference, crashing GSS-API acceptor services.
Potential Impact
An authenticated Kerberos client can cause denial of service by crashing services that accept GSS-API security contexts. This disrupts availability but does not indicate privilege escalation or data compromise based on the provided information.
Mitigation Recommendations
Patch status is not yet confirmed — check the vendor advisory for current remediation guidance. Until an official fix is available, restrict access to trusted authenticated clients and monitor for unusual service crashes related to GSS-API acceptor services.
Technical Details
- Data Version
- 5.2
- Assigner Short Name
- VulnCheck
- Date Reserved
- 2026-10-08T20:02:23.913Z
- Cvss Version
- 4.0
- State
- PUBLISHED
Threat ID: 6ac7feea2cdf04f656318bd9
Added to database: 10/08/2026, 20:36:58 UTC
Last enriched: 10/08/2026, 21:18:47 UTC
Last updated: 10/08/2026, 21:18:47 UTC
Views: 3
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