CVE-2011-1529
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 lookup_lockout_policy function in the Key Distribution Center (KDC) in MIT Kerberos 5 (aka krb5) 1.8 through 1.8.4 and 1.9 through 1.9.1, when the db2 (aka Berkeley DB) or LDAP back end is used, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and daemon crash) via vectors that trigger certain process_as_req errors.
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 vulnerability exists in MIT Kerberos 5 KDC's lookup_lockout_policy function. When using db2 (Berkeley DB) or LDAP back ends, specific error conditions during process_as_req processing trigger a NULL pointer dereference, causing the KDC daemon to crash and resulting in denial of service.
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= 1.8= 1.8.1= 1.8.2= 1.8.3= 1.8.4= 1.9= 1.9.1CVSS 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
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed MIT Kerberos 5 versionRun 'krb5-config --version' or check the package manager (rpm -q krb5-server, dpkg -l krb5-kdc, etc.)Affected if Version is 1.8.x (1.8, 1.8.1, 1.8.2, 1.8.3, 1.8.4) or 1.9.x (1.9, 1.9.1)
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Confirm KDC component is deployedCheck if the Kerberos KDC daemon is installed: look for 'krb5kdc' binary (typically in /usr/sbin/) or check for krb5-kdc packageAffected if KDC daemon (krb5kdc) is present on the system
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Identify the Kerberos database back end in useExamine kdc.conf or krb5.conf for 'database_module' setting, or check for LDAP configuration in kerberos schema. Also check for DB2 files (like principal.db) in /var/kerberos/krb5kdc/Affected if The KDC uses db2 (Berkeley DB) or LDAP as its database back end; other back ends are not affected by this flaw
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Check for KDC crash indicatorsReview system logs (/var/log/messages, /var/log/krb5kdc.log) or audit logs for recent krb5kdc daemon crashes or segfaultsAffected if KDC daemon has recently crashed or terminated unexpectedly
You are affected if you run a MIT Kerberos 5 KDC version 1.8.x or 1.9.x with db2 or LDAP back end, and the KDC daemon may crash under specific error conditions during authentication processing.
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 dataUpgrade MIT Kerberos 5 to version 1.8.5, 1.9.2, or later which contains the fix for this NULL pointer dereference in the KDC lookup_lockout_policy function.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2011-1529 — 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-2011-1529 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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