CVE-2010-2940
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 · uneditedThe auth_send function in providers/ldap/ldap_auth.c in System Security Services Daemon (SSSD) 1.3.0, when LDAP authentication and anonymous bind are enabled, allows remote attackers to bypass the authentication requirements of pam_authenticate via an empty password.
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 · high confidenceThe auth_send function in SSSD 1.3.0's LDAP authentication provider improperly handles authentication when anonymous LDAP bind is enabled, allowing remote attackers to bypass authentication by submitting an empty password instead of proper credentials.
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= 1.3.0CVSS 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
- High
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:H/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed SSSD versionRun 'sssd --version' or check via package manager (rpm -q sssd, dpkg -l sssd)Affected if Version is exactly 1.3.0
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Verify SSSD uses LDAP authentication providerExamine /etc/sssd/sssd.conf and look for 'id_provider' or 'auth_provider' set to 'ldap' under any domain sectionAffected if LDAP provider is configured (this is required for the vulnerable code path)
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Check if anonymous LDAP bind is permitted by SSSD configIn /etc/sssd/sssd.conf under the LDAP domain section, verify whether ldap_default_bind_dn and ldap_default_authtok are configured. If both are empty or unset, anonymous bind may be attemptedAffected if ldap_default_bind_dn and ldap_default_authtok are not configured, allowing unauthenticated bind attempts
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Verify LDAP server allows anonymous bindsQuery the LDAP server (e.g., ldapsearch -x -h <server> -s base 'objectclass=*' supportedSASLMechanisms) or check LDAP server configuration for anonymous bind settingsAffected if LDAP server is configured to permit anonymous bind operations
Affected only if SSSD version is exactly 1.3.0, the LDAP authentication provider is in use, AND anonymous LDAP bind is enabled either in SSSD config or on the LDAP server itself.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataDisable anonymous bind in the LDAP directory configuration and configure SSSD to require proper password-based authentication rather than allowing unauthenticated binds.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2010-2940 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2010-2940 in production — separate from our analysis above.
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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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