CVE-2026-18663 PUBLISHED

389-ds-base: 389-ds-base: pre-authentication double-free in get_ldapmessage_controls_ext() via critical session tracking control

Assigner: redhat
Reserved: 03.08.2026 Published: 12.08.2026 Updated: 12.08.2026

A flaw was found in 389-ds-base. The get_ldapmessage_controls_ext() function frees the parsed controls array on the Session Tracking critical-control rejection path without clearing the SLAPI_REQCONTROLS pblock slot. Operation teardown then frees the same pointer again, causing a double-free. An unauthenticated remote attacker can trigger this with a single BIND request carrying a critical Session Tracking control, resulting in heap corruption and potential denial of service.

Metrics

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CVSS Score: 5.9

Product Status

Vendor Red Hat
Product Red Hat Directory Server 11
Versions Default: unaffected
Vendor Red Hat
Product Red Hat Directory Server 12
Versions Default: unaffected
Vendor Red Hat
Product Red Hat Directory Server 13
Versions Default: affected
Vendor Red Hat
Product Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
Versions Default: affected
Vendor Red Hat
Product Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
Versions Default: unaffected
Vendor Red Hat
Product Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
Versions Default: unaffected
Vendor Red Hat
Product Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
Versions Default: unaffected
Vendor Red Hat
Product Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
Versions Default: unaffected

Workarounds

On builds that include upstream Issue 7389 (committed 2026-04-09, present in 389-ds-base-3.2 branch), administrators can add the Session Tracking control OID (1.3.6.1.4.1.21008.108.63.1) to the ds-ignored-control-criticality configuration attribute. This causes the server to ignore the criticality flag on this control, preventing the vulnerable rejection path from being reached.

Additionally, network-level restriction of access to the LDAP port (389/636) to trusted clients reduces exposure.

Credits

  • Red Hat would like to thank Adam Korczynski (Ada Logics), Arthur Chan (Ada Logics), David Korczynski (Ada Logics), and Team (Anthropic) for reporting this issue.

References

Problem Types

  • Double Free CWE