CVE-2019-12175
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 · uneditedIn Zeek Network Security Monitor (formerly known as Bro) before 2.6.2, a NULL pointer dereference in the Kerberos (aka KRB) protocol parser leads to DoS because a case-type index is mishandled.
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 confidenceIn Zeek Network Security Monitor before version 2.6.2, the Kerberos protocol parser contains a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability caused by mishandling a case-type index. When processing certain KRB traffic, the parser incorrectly handles an index value, resulting in a NULL pointer dereference that causes the security monitor to crash, leading to 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< 2.6.2CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check if Zeek is installed and get versionRun `zeek --version` or `bro --version` in the terminal to determine the installed Zeek/Bro version.Affected if The version output is lower than 2.6.2 (e.g., 2.6.1, 2.6.0, or earlier)
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Verify Kerberos logging is enabledCheck if the `krb.log` file is being generated in your Zeek log directory (typically `/var/log/zeek/` or `./logs/`). This indicates the KRB analyzer is active.Affected if KRB logging is active and the Zeek version is below 2.6.2
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Confirm KRB protocol analyzer is loadedInspect your Zeek `loaded_scripts.log` or run `zeek -N | grep -i krb` to see if the Kerberos analyzer script is loaded.Affected if The KRB analyzer is loaded and the Zeek version is below 2.6.2
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Check if KRB traffic is being processedReview network traffic captures or Zeek notice logs for any Kerberos traffic being parsed by Zeek. Presence of KRB traffic processed by Zeek confirms the vulnerable code path is reachable.Affected if Zeek is processing KRB traffic and the version is below 2.6.2
You are affected if Zeek version is below 2.6.2 AND the Kerberos protocol analyzer is actively processing KRB traffic on your monitored network.
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 data2.6.2
Update Zeek Network Security Monitor to version 2.6.2 or later to patch the NULL pointer dereference in the KRB protocol parser. If immediate patching is not possible, consider filtering or rate-limiting suspicious KRB traffic as a temporary workaround.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-12175 — 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-2019-12175 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
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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