CVE-2026-12610: Expired Pointer Dereference in Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
A flaw was found in sssd. When authenticating with a YubiKey, the SSSD PAM responder can crash due to a use-after-free vulnerability, where a memory pointer is incorrectly handled. A local attacker could exploit this flaw by manipulating smartcard or YubiKey contents, leading to a denial of service that disrupts authentication. This vulnerability also presents a potential for privilege escalation, although it is difficult to exploit.
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
This vulnerability involves an expired pointer dereference (use-after-free) in the System Security Services Daemon (SSSD) PAM responder when authenticating using a YubiKey. Improper handling of memory pointers can lead to a crash of the authentication service. A local attacker with the ability to manipulate smartcard or YubiKey data could exploit this flaw to disrupt authentication services (denial of service) and possibly escalate privileges, although exploitation complexity is high. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 6.4, reflecting medium severity with local attack vector, high attack complexity, and high privileges required.
Potential Impact
Successful exploitation causes a denial of service by crashing the SSSD PAM responder, disrupting authentication on affected systems. There is also a potential for privilege escalation, but this is considered difficult to achieve. The vulnerability affects local users with high privileges and requires manipulation of smartcard or YubiKey contents.
Mitigation Recommendations
Patch status is not yet confirmed — check the Red Hat advisory at https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-12610 for current remediation guidance. No official fix or temporary workaround is indicated in the provided data. Until a patch is available, restrict local access to trusted users and monitor for unusual authentication failures related to smartcard or YubiKey usage.
CVE-2026-12610: Expired Pointer Dereference in Red Hat Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
Description
A flaw was found in sssd. When authenticating with a YubiKey, the SSSD PAM responder can crash due to a use-after-free vulnerability, where a memory pointer is incorrectly handled. A local attacker could exploit this flaw by manipulating smartcard or YubiKey contents, leading to a denial of service that disrupts authentication. This vulnerability also presents a potential for privilege escalation, although it is difficult to exploit.
CVSS v3.1
Score 6.4medium
AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
This vulnerability involves an expired pointer dereference (use-after-free) in the System Security Services Daemon (SSSD) PAM responder when authenticating using a YubiKey. Improper handling of memory pointers can lead to a crash of the authentication service. A local attacker with the ability to manipulate smartcard or YubiKey data could exploit this flaw to disrupt authentication services (denial of service) and possibly escalate privileges, although exploitation complexity is high. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 6.4, reflecting medium severity with local attack vector, high attack complexity, and high privileges required.
Potential Impact
Successful exploitation causes a denial of service by crashing the SSSD PAM responder, disrupting authentication on affected systems. There is also a potential for privilege escalation, but this is considered difficult to achieve. The vulnerability affects local users with high privileges and requires manipulation of smartcard or YubiKey contents.
Mitigation Recommendations
Patch status is not yet confirmed — check the Red Hat advisory at https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-12610 for current remediation guidance. No official fix or temporary workaround is indicated in the provided data. Until a patch is available, restrict local access to trusted users and monitor for unusual authentication failures related to smartcard or YubiKey usage.
Technical Details
- Data Version
- 5.2
- Assigner Short Name
- redhat
- Date Reserved
- 2026-06-18T11:34:05.237Z
- Cvss Version
- 3.1
- State
- PUBLISHED
- Remediation Level
- null
- Vendor Advisory Urls
- [{"url":"https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-12610","vendor":"Red Hat"}]
Threat ID: 6a4391c127e9c79719866457
Added to database: 06/30/2026, 09:52:01 UTC
Last enriched: 07/07/2026, 11:56:35 UTC
Last updated: 08/14/2026, 12:41:08 UTC
Views: 75
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