Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian
CVE-2016-2860
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 newEntry function in ptserver/ptprocs.c in OpenAFS before 1.6.17 allows remote authenticated users from foreign Kerberos realms to bypass intended access restrictions and create arbitrary groups as administrators by leveraging mishandling of the creator ID.
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 confidenceThe newEntry function in ptserver/ptprocs.c in OpenAFS before 1.6.17 improperly handles the creator ID for users authenticating from foreign Kerberos realms. This mishandling allows an authenticated attacker from a trusted foreign realm to bypass intended access controls and create arbitrary groups with administrator privileges, effectively escalating their privileges within the AFS cell.
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
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 8.0<= 1.6.16CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
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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Determine installed OpenAFS versionRun 'rxstat -version' or check the OpenAFS package version using your system package manager (e.g., 'dpkg -l openafs' on Debian)Affected if The version is 1.6.16 or lower, or the package version indicates an OpenAFS release before 1.6.17
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Verify ptserver component is in useCheck if the Protection Server (ptserver) is running and accessible in your AFS cell using 'pts listmax' or by examining running processes for ptserverAffected if The ptserver process is running and handling group/user protection operations in your AFS cell
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Confirm cross-realm Kerberos trust is configuredExamine your Kerberos configuration (krb5.conf) and OpenAFS configuration (ThisCell) for entries indicating foreign realm trusts. Look for 'krb5_realm' mappings or cross-realm principal entries in Keytab filesAffected if Your AFS cell is configured to trust and accept authentication from one or more foreign Kerberos realms (different from the cell's own realm)
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Check group creation permissions for foreign realm usersAs a user from a trusted foreign realm, attempt to create a group with administrator privileges using the 'pts creategroup' command, specifying the foreign realm user as the group ownerAffected if A user from a foreign Kerberos realm can successfully create groups with administrator-level ownership without proper authorization checks
You are affected if your OpenAFS version is 1.6.16 or earlier AND your cell is configured to accept authentication from foreign Kerberos realms, allowing cross-realm users to create privileged groups through the ptserver.
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 OpenAFS servers to version 1.6.17 or later to obtain the patched ptserver component. Verify group creation permissions for cross-realm users after upgrading.
Fix this in Debian Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,600.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-2860 — 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-2016-2860 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
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