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EsxApplication · VMware

CVE-2011-1786

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2011-05-03
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 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 · unedited
lsassd in Likewise Open /Enterprise 5.3 before build 7845, Open 6.0 before build 8325, and Enterprise 6.0 before build 178, as distributed in VMware ESXi 4.1 and ESX 4.1 and possibly other products, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (daemon crash) via an Active Directory login attempt that provides a username containing an invalid byte sequence.

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 confidence

The lsassd (Local Security Authority Subsystem Service) daemon in Likewise Open/Enterprise versions 5.3 before build 7845, Open 6.0 before build 8325, and Enterprise 6.0 before build 178 contains an input validation vulnerability. When processing Active Directory login attempts, the daemon fails to properly handle usernames containing invalid byte sequences, causing it to crash and resulting in denial of service.

MitigationUpgrade Likewise Open/Enterprise to build 7845 (5.3), 8325 (Open 6.0), or 178 (Enterprise 6.0) or later. If immediate patching is not possible, consider restricting network access to AD authentication services or implementing rate limiting on authentication endpoints to reduce attack surface.

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
EsxApplication
Affected:= 4.1
EsxiApplication
Affected:= 4.1
Likewise OpenApplication
Affected:= 5.3= 6.0

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.

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? 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 checks

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

  1. Verify lsassd daemon is running
    Run 'ps -ef | grep lsassd' or 'service lsassd status' to confirm the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service daemon is active on the system
    Affected if The lsassd daemon must be running for this vulnerability to be exploitable; if it is not present or not running, the system is not affected by this specific flaw
  2. Check Likewise Open or Enterprise version
    Run 'lwtool --version' or examine the installed package version with 'rpm -q likewise-open' or 'dpkg -l likewise-open' depending on your package manager
    Affected if The system is affected if the installed version is Likewise Open 5.3 or 6.0, or Enterprise 6.0, but only if the build number is below 7845 (5.3), 8325 (Open 6.0), or 178 (Enterprise 6.0)
  3. Confirm the specific build number of Likewise
    Run 'lwbuild' or check the build information in the Likewise installation directory, or review the exact build in the RPM/DEB package metadata
    Affected if The vulnerability is present only if the build number is below the fixed thresholds: 7845 for version 5.3, 8325 for Open 6.0, or 178 for Enterprise 6.0
  4. Verify Active Directory integration is enabled
    Check if the system is joined to an Active Directory domain by running 'domainjoin-cli query' or examining /etc/likewise/lsassd.conf for domain membership configuration
    Affected if The flaw only triggers during Active Directory login attempts; if the system is not integrated with AD, the attack surface does not apply, though the vulnerable code is still present

The environment is affected if lsassd is running, the installed Likewise version matches 5.3 or 6.0 with a build number below the fixed thresholds, and the system is configured for Active Directory authentication.

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

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade Likewise Open/Enterprise to build 7845 (5.3), 8325 (Open 6.0), or 178 (Enterprise 6.0) or later. If immediate patching is not possible, consider restricting network access to AD authentication services or implementing rate limiting on authentication endpoints to reduce attack surface.

Fix this in Esx Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2011-1786 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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