Pam Krb5Application · Eyrie

CVE-2009-0360

MEDIUM · 6.2 CVSS v2.0 Published 2009-02-13

Fix available

A fix is available. Upgrade to after 3.12 or later.

See remediation →

67/100

Remediation priority · Elevated

No privileges Zero-click

Official description

NVD · unedited

Russ Allbery pam-krb5 before 3.13, when linked against MIT Kerberos, does not properly initialize the Kerberos libraries for setuid use, which allows local users to gain privileges by pointing an environment variable to a modified Kerberos configuration file, and then launching a PAM-based setuid application.

Technical summary

dbcve analysis · high confidence

pam-krb5 before version 3.13, when linked against MIT Kerberos, fails to properly initialize Kerberos libraries for setuid use. This allows local privilege escalation by pointing an environment variable (likely KRB5_CONFIG) to a user-controlled Kerberos configuration file, then triggering a PAM-based setuid application to load the malicious config.

MitigationUpgrade pam-krb5 to version 3.13 or later which contains proper setuid initialization. Alternatively, audit systems to ensure untrusted users cannot control Kerberos configuration file locations before PAM-based setuid applications execute.

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

Affected products & versions

NVD · CPE data

Pam Krb5Application

Affected:<= 3.12= 2.0= 2.1= 2.2= 2.3= 2.4= 2.5= 2.6= 3.0= 3.1= 3.2= 3.3

CVSS breakdown

From the vector

Attack vector: Local
Complexity: High
Authentication: None
Confidentiality: Complete
Integrity: Complete
Availability: Complete

AV:L/AC:H/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Am I affected?

dbcve checks

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

Identify pam-krb5 version

Run 'rpm -q pam-krb5' or 'dpkg -l libpam-krb5' to find the installed package version. If compiled from source, check the binary with 'strings' for version strings or check the source directory.

Affected if The installed version is 3.12 or earlier, or any of these specific versions: 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, 2.6, 3.0, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3
Find PAM-based setuid applications

Locate setuid binaries on the system with 'find / -perm -4000 -type f 2>/dev/null', then check which ones use PAM by examining /etc/pam.d/ configuration files for the service or by running 'ldd' on the binary to see if it links against libpam.

Affected if Any setuid application is configured to use pam-krb5 via PAM configuration in /etc/pam.d/ or directly links to the pam-krb5 library
Check for dangerous environment variable handling

Inspect if pam-krb5 strips the KRB5_CONFIG environment variable before use. This can be confirmed by reviewing the source code of the installed version, or by testing whether a non-root user can influence Kerberos configuration path through environment variables when invoking a setuid PAM application.

Affected if The pam-krb5 module does not sanitize or reset the KRB5_CONFIG environment variable before initializing Kerberos libraries, allowing user-controlled configuration paths

The system is affected if pam-krb5 version 3.12 or earlier is installed AND any setuid application uses this PAM module, allowing untrusted users to control the Kerberos configuration file location via environment variables.

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

Remediation

From vendor data

Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 3.12

Interim mitigation

Upgrade pam-krb5 to version 3.13 or later which contains proper setuid initialization. Alternatively, audit systems to ensure untrusted users cannot control Kerberos configuration file locations before PAM-based setuid applications execute.

Fix this in Pam Krb5 Scoped from the published advisory

Consultation4.0 h
Implementation2.0 h
Testing6.0 h
Review / QA2.0 h

14.0 hours of engineering $2,420

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References

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2009-0360 in production — separate from our analysis above.

Notes0 Guidelines

Know something about CVE-2009-0360?

The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.

The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
A config change or rule that shut the vector down
A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here

Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data

At a glance

A fix existsUpgrade to after 3.12 or later

Severity 6.2 Medium

Exploit likelihood EPSS, next 30 days 0.7%

Affects: Pam Krb5

Remediation

Need this fixed?

Fix this in Pam Krb5 14 hrs · Moderate

Typical engagement from $2,420

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Check your environment

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.

Scan for this in your stack

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Practitioner notes

No notes yet

Official description

Technical summary

Affected products & versions

CVSS breakdown

Am I affected?

Remediation

References