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Kerberos 5Application · Mit

CVE-2007-5894

HIGH · 9.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2007-12-06
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The reply function in ftpd.c in the gssftp ftpd in MIT Kerberos 5 (krb5) does not initialize the length variable when auth_type has a certain value, which has unknown impact and remote authenticated attack vectors. NOTE: the original disclosure misidentifies the conditions under which the uninitialized variable is used. NOTE: the vendor disputes this issue, stating " The 'length' variable is only uninitialized if 'auth_type' is neither the 'KERBEROS_V4' nor 'GSSAPI'; this condition cannot occur in the unmodified source code.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

Uninitialized length variable in the reply function of gssftp ftpd in MIT Kerberos 5 allows remote authenticated attackers to potentially execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service. The vulnerability occurs when auth_type is neither KERBEROS_V4 nor GSSAPI, leaving the length variable uninitialized before use.

MitigationUpgrade to a patched version of MIT Kerberos 5 that properly initializes the length variable in all code paths, or disable the gssftp service if not required.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Kerberos 5Application
Affected:all versions

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
M
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify if MIT Kerberos 5 is installed
    Run 'kinit --version' or check for /usr/lib/krb5/ directory to confirm Kerberos 5 installation. On Red Hat/CentOS: rpm -q krb5-server. On Debian/Ubuntu: dpkg -l | grep krb5.
    Affected if MIT Kerberos 5 is present on the system
  2. Locate the gssftp ftpd binary
    Search for the gssftpd or ftpd binary in common paths such as /usr/lib/ftpd, /usr/sbin/ftpd, or /usr/kerberos/sbin/ftpd. Use 'find /usr -name '*ftpd*' 2>/dev/null' to locate it.
    Affected if The gssftp ftpd binary exists on the system
  3. Determine if gssftp service is running
    Check running processes for ftpd: 'ps aux | grep ftpd' or check network listeners: 'netstat -anp | grep :21' (FTP port) or 'ss -anp | grep :21'. Also check /etc/inetd.conf or xinetd.d for ftpd entries.
    Affected if The gssftp ftpd service is actively listening for connections
  4. Verify the installed Kerberos 5 version
    Run 'kinit --version' or check package version. Compare the version number against any available patched versions in your distribution's security advisories.
    Affected if Running an unpatched version of MIT Kerberos 5 with the known vulnerability
  5. Check authentication configuration
    Examine the ftpd configuration (typically in /etc/ftpd or through xinetd/inetd) to see what authentication types are permitted. Look for configuration options that allow non-KERBEROS_V4 and non-GSSAPI authentication methods.
    Affected if The ftpd is configured to accept authentication types other than KERBEROS_V4 or GSSAPI

The system is affected if MIT Kerberos 5 with gssftp ftpd is installed, the service is running, and it permits authentication methods outside of KERBEROS_V4 and GSSAPI, which triggers the uninitialized length variable in the reply function.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to a patched version of MIT Kerberos 5 that properly initializes the length variable in all code paths, or disable the gssftp service if not required.

Fix this in Kerberos 5 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,080
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2007-5894 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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