KerberosApplication · Mit

CVE-2011-0282

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2011-02-10

Mitigation only

No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.

See remediation →

59/100

Remediation priority · Elevated

Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description

NVD · unedited

The Key Distribution Center (KDC) in MIT Kerberos 5 (aka krb5) 1.6.x through 1.9, when an LDAP backend is used, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference or buffer over-read, and daemon crash) via a crafted principal name.

Technical summary

dbcve analysis · high confidence

The Key Distribution Center (KDC) in MIT Kerberos 5 versions 1.6 through 1.9 contains a vulnerability when using an LDAP backend. Remote attackers can send crafted principal names that cause either NULL pointer dereference or buffer over-read in the KDC, resulting in daemon crash and denial of service.

MitigationUpgrade to krb5 1.10 or later which contains the fix. Alternatively, implement network-level filtering to restrict unauthorized access to the KDC service.

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

KerberosApplication

Affected:= 5-1.6.3

Kerberos 5Application

Affected:= 1.6= 1.6.1= 1.6.2= 1.7= 1.7.1= 1.8= 1.8.1= 1.8.2= 1.8.3= 1.9

CVSS breakdown

From the vector

Attack vector: Network
Complexity: Low
Authentication: None
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: Partial

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

Am I affected?

dbcve checks

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

Check installed MIT Kerberos 5 version

Run 'krb5-config --version' or 'klist -V' to determine the krb5 library version. For the KDC specifically, check 'kdc --version' if available, or inspect the package manager output (rpm -q krb5-server or dpkg -l krb5-kdc).

Affected if Version is 1.6.x, 1.7.x, 1.8.x, or 1.9.x (including all point releases through 1.9)
Verify KDC component is deployed

Check if the Kerberos KDC daemon is installed and running. On Linux, inspect /usr/sbin/kdc or run 'ps aux | grep kdc'. Check for the krb5-kdc package via package manager.

Affected if The krb5-kdc or krb5-server package is installed and the kdc daemon process is running
Confirm LDAP backend is configured

Examine the KDC configuration file (typically /etc/krb5kdc/kdc.conf or /etc/krb5.conf) and look for LDAP-related settings in the 'dbmodule' or 'db_dir' sections. Specifically check for 'ldap_kdc_dn', 'ldap_kadmin_dn', or 'ldap_service_password_file' directives that indicate LDAP backend usage.

Affected if The KDC is configured to use an LDAP backend (directory) rather than a traditional file-based DB (e.g., hdb or krb5kdc.conf contains ldap: prefix in database module)
Check KDC network exposure

Verify that the KDC service ports are listening and accessible. Run 'netstat -tulpn | grep -E ':(88|750)' ' or 'ss -tulpn | grep -E ':(88|750)' ' to confirm the KDC is bound to network interfaces. Review firewall rules and network ACLs.

Affected if The KDC daemon is listening on a network-accessible IP address (0.0.0.0 or non-loopback) on port 88/UDP or 88/TCP, making it remotely exploitable

You are affected if you are running MIT Kerberos 5 KDC versions 1.6 through 1.9 with an LDAP backend configured and the KDC is network-accessible, as remote attackers can send crafted principal names to crash the daemon.

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

Remediation

From vendor data

Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime

Mitigation

Upgrade to krb5 1.10 or later which contains the fix. Alternatively, implement network-level filtering to restrict unauthorized access to the KDC service.

Fix this in Kerberos Scoped from the published advisory

Consultation2.0 h
Implementation4.0 h
Testing6.0 h
Review / QA3.0 h

15.0 hours of engineering $2,560

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Scan for this in your stack

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References

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2011-0282 in production — separate from our analysis above.

Notes0 Guidelines

Know something about CVE-2011-0282?

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 existsA vendor remedy is published

Severity 5.0 Medium

Exploit likelihood EPSS, next 30 days 3.5%

Affects: Kerberos

Remediation

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Fix this in Kerberos 15 hrs · Moderate

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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