Improper Privilege ManagementWeakness · CWE-269

CVE-2025-11561

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-10-09

Mitigation only

No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.

See remediation →

94/100

Remediation priority · Urgent

Remotely reachable Zero-click

Official description

NVD · unedited

A flaw was found in the integration of Active Directory and the System Security Services Daemon (SSSD) on Linux systems. In default configurations, the Kerberos local authentication plugin (sssd_krb5_localauth_plugin) is enabled, but a fallback to the an2ln plugin is possible. This fallback allows an attacker with permission to modify certain AD attributes (such as userPrincipalName or samAccountName) to impersonate privileged users, potentially resulting in unauthorized access or privilege escalation on domain-joined Linux hosts.

Technical summary

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

A vulnerability in SSSD's AD integration allows the Kerberos local auth plugin to fall back to the an2ln plugin. Attackers with AD attribute modification permissions (userPrincipalName or samAccountName) can manipulate these attributes to impersonate privileged users, gaining unauthorized access or privilege escalation on domain-joined Linux hosts.

MitigationDisable the an2ln plugin fallback in SSSD configuration and restrict permissions to modify sensitive AD user attributes to prevent impersonation attacks.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

CVSS breakdown

From the vector

Attack vector: Network
Complexity: Low
Privileges: Low
User interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: High
Availability: High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected?

dbcve checks

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

Verify SSSD installation and version

Run `rpm -q sssd` or `dpkg -l sssd` to check if SSSD is installed. Run `sssd --version` or check the package version to compare against any known fixed versions.

Affected if SSSD is installed and running with AD integration capabilities
Confirm AD integration is configured

Examine /etc/sssd/sssd.conf for [domain/*] sections containing 'id_provider = ad' or 'ad_provider = ad'. Also check for 'krb5_conf_path' or 'krb5_keytab' settings indicating Kerberos authentication is in use.

Affected if SSSD is configured with AD provider and Kerberos authentication is enabled for domain logins
Check for Kerberos local auth plugin usage

Inspect SSSD configuration for 'auth_provider = krb5' or 'krb5_authentication = true' within domain sections. Also check /etc/pam.d/ or PAM configuration for 'sss_gssapi' or 'pam_sss' with GSSAPI authentication.

Affected if Kerberos authentication (krb5) is configured as an auth provider in SSSD
Detect an2ln plugin fallback configuration

Search SSSD configuration files for 'an2ln' references. Check /etc/sssd/conf.d/ or /etc/sssd/sssd.conf for options like 'fallback_to_an2ln' or 'use_legacy_nsswitch'. Also examine krb5.conf for any SSSD-related plugin configurations.

Affected if The an2ln plugin fallback mechanism is explicitly enabled or available in the SSSD/Kerberos configuration

A system is affected if SSSD with AD integration is in use and the Kerberos local auth is configured with the an2ln plugin fallback mechanism enabled, allowing attribute manipulation for privilege escalation.

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

Remediation

From vendor data

Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime

Mitigation

Disable the an2ln plugin fallback in SSSD configuration and restrict permissions to modify sensitive AD user attributes to prevent impersonation attacks.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory

Consultation5.0 h
Implementation8.0 h
Testing5.0 h
Review / QA3.0 h

21.0 hours of engineering $3,730

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References

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-11561 in production — separate from our analysis above.

Notes0 Guidelines

Know something about CVE-2025-11561?

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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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

At a glance

A fix existsA vendor remedy is published

Severity 8.8 High

Exploit likelihood EPSS, next 30 days 0.8%

Remediation

A high-priority fix

Have this fixed 21 hrs · Moderate

Typical engagement from $3,730

Get a fix See the full breakdown ↓

A high-priority vulnerability. Send your environment and a specialist will scope CVE-2025-11561 and return a fixed quote and timeline.

You’ll deal with our team directly and deploy the reviewed fix to staging first — never straight to production.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Check your environment

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.

Scan for this in your stack

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Practitioner notes

No notes yet

Official description

Technical summary

CVSS breakdown

Am I affected?

Remediation

References