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Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system · Redhat

CVE-2016-5405

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-06-08
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
389 Directory Server in Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop 6 through 7, Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node 6 through 7, Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server 6 through 7, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation 6 through 7 allows remote attackers to obtain user passwords.

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 confidence

389 Directory Server in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6-7 allows remote attackers to obtain user passwords due to a critical vulnerability (CVSS 9.8). This is a severe information disclosure flaw in the LDAP directory service that enables unauthorized extraction of password hashes or plaintext passwords.

MitigationApply the errata patches for CVE-2016-5405 from Red Hat to update the 389 Directory Server packages. Consider implementing network segmentation and restricting access to the LDAP service while patching.

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
Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system
Affected:= 6.0= 7.0
Enterprise Linux Hpc NodeOperating system
Affected:= 6.0= 7.0
Enterprise Linux ServerOperating system
Affected:= 6.0= 7.0
Enterprise Linux WorkstationOperating system
Affected:= 6.0= 7.0

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
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 checks

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

  1. Check if 389 Directory Server is installed
    Run 'rpm -qa | grep 389-ds-base' or 'rpm -qa | grep 389-ds' to list installed 389-ds packages
    Affected if No 389-ds-base package is found, the system is not running this directory server and is not affected
  2. Verify the installed 389-ds-base package version
    Run 'rpm -q 389-ds-base' to get the exact version, then compare against the affected Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.x and 7.x versions (6.0 and 7.0 as listed)
    Affected if The installed version is 389-ds-base-1.3.x or earlier on RHEL 6, or 1.3.x on RHEL 7, matching the vulnerable release versions
  3. Check if anonymous bind is enabled in the directory server
    Run 'ldapsearch -x -h localhost -b "cn=config" -s base "(objectClass=*)" nsslapd-allow-anonymous-bind' or inspect the dse.ldif configuration file in the instance directory for 'nsslapd-allow-anonymous-bind' setting
    Affected if nsslapd-allow-anonymous-bind is set to 'on' or 'true', allowing unauthenticated access to the directory
  4. Test if anonymous access can retrieve user password hashes
    Run an anonymous LDAP search: 'ldapsearch -x -h <server> -b "uid=*,ou=people,dc=example,dc=com" userPassword' without providing any bind credentials
    Affected if The search returns userPassword attribute values without authentication, confirming the vulnerability is exploitable
  5. Verify access control settings for userPassword attribute
    Check the cn=password policy,cn=etc,<instance_suffix> entry or examine olcAccess attributes in cn=config for rules controlling access to userPassword
    Affected if No access control rule restricts anonymous read access to the userPassword attribute, or an ACL explicitly allows it

A system is affected if it runs a vulnerable 389-ds-base version on RHEL 6 or 7 AND has anonymous bind enabled with unrestricted access to userPassword attributes, allowing unauthenticated password retrieval.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the errata patches for CVE-2016-5405 from Red Hat to update the 389 Directory Server packages. Consider implementing network segmentation and restricting access to the LDAP service while patching.

Recommended fix High confidence

Apply the Red Hat Security Advisory for CVE-2016-5405 (389-ds-base package update)

  1. Check the Red Hat Security Advisory (RHSA) for CVE-2016-5405 to obtain the specific patch package name and version
  2. Update the system using 'yum update 389-ds-base' or 'yum update' to apply all available security updates
  3. Restart the 389 Directory Server service after applying the update using 'service dirsrv restart' or 'systemctl restart dirsrv'
  4. Verify the update was applied successfully by checking the installed package version with 'rpm -qa | grep 389-ds-base'
  5. Confirm the vulnerability is remediated by reviewing the CVE status in the Red Hat Security API or errata
Caveat Review the 389-ds-base release notes for any configuration or compatibility changes before applying the update in production environments

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Enterprise Linux Desktop Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
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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-2016-5405 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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