CVE-2010-5107
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 default configuration of OpenSSH through 6.1 enforces a fixed time limit between establishing a TCP connection and completing a login, which makes it easier for remote attackers to cause a denial of service (connection-slot exhaustion) by periodically making many new TCP connections.
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 confidenceOpenSSH through version 6.1 enforced a fixed time limit between establishing a TCP connection and completing login in its default configuration. This design allowed remote attackers to cause denial of service by exhausting available connection slots through periodic rapid TCP connection attempts, since connections remained allocated during the login window.
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<= 6.1= 1.2= 1.2.1= 1.2.2= 1.2.3= 1.2.27= 1.3= 1.5= 1.5.7= 1.5.8= 2.1= 2.1.1CVSS 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
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
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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Identify OpenSSH versionRun 'sshd -v' or 'ssh -V' to obtain the installed OpenSSH versionAffected if Version is 6.1 or lower, or matches one of the specific affected versions listed (1.2, 1.2.1, 1.2.2, 1.2.3, 1.2.27, 1.3, 1.5, 1.5.7, 1.5.8, 2.1, 2.1.1)
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Confirm OpenSSH server is runningCheck for running sshd processes using 'ps aux | grep sshd' or check network listening on port 22Affected if OpenSSH server is actively accepting connections and the version is within the affected range
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Check if default login time window configuration appliesExamine the sshd configuration file (typically /etc/ssh/sshd_config) for LoginGraceTime setting - if unset or using default, connections remain allocated during the login windowAffected if LoginGraceTime is not explicitly configured, indicating default behavior where connections stay allocated for the full login window period
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Verify MaxStartups configurationInspect sshd configuration for MaxStartups directive - this setting controls concurrent unauthenticated connectionsAffected if MaxStartups is not configured or is set to a high value, meaning no limit is enforced on concurrent connection slots vulnerable to exhaustion
A system is affected if it runs OpenSSH version 6.1 or lower and relies on default configuration without explicit limits on concurrent unauthenticated connections.
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 dataUpdate OpenSSH to a version beyond 6.1 and configure MaxStartups to limit concurrent unauthenticated connections, or implement rate-limiting at the firewall level to mitigate connection-slot exhaustion.
- 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-2010-5107 — 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-2010-5107 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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- 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
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