CVE-2026-89538 PUBLISHED

SUNRPC: Reject krb5 v2 wrap tokens with oversized ec field

Assigner: Linux
Reserved: 11.09.2026 Published: 11.09.2026 Updated: 13.09.2026

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

SUNRPC: Reject krb5 v2 wrap tokens with oversized ec field

gss_krb5_unwrap_v2() sets buf->len to a logical length, which can be much smaller than head[0].iov_len (the allocated receive-page capacity). It then calls xdr_buf_trim() with a trim length derived from the 16-bit "extra count" (ec) field in the Kerberos v2 token header.

The ec field is authenticated by the post-decrypt memcmp() against the encrypted header copy, so a randomly-mutated value is rejected. However, any peer holding a valid GSS context can legitimately encrypt a token whose ec exceeds the plaintext length. Per RFC 4121, such a token is structurally malformed.

Although xdr_buf_trim() now clamps the buf->len subtraction to avoid unsigned underflow, the buffer is still left in a semantically invalid state (zero length, inconsistent iov lengths) when ec is oversized.

Reject these tokens before calling xdr_buf_trim(), giving callers a well-defined GSS_S_DEFECTIVE_TOKEN error and keeping the xdr_buf internally consistent. The wrapped blob begins at a nonzero offset -- both callers pass len as offset + opaque_len -- so buf->len still counts the offset bytes that precede the blob. Compare the trim length against the remaining wrapped segment, buf->len - offset, rather than the whole buffer; comparing against buf->len alone leaves an offset-wide window in which an oversized ec passes the test and xdr_buf_trim() cuts into the bytes ahead of the blob.

Metrics

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS Score: 9.8

AV:N - gss_krb5_unwrap_v2() is reached from nfsd RPCSEC_GSS privacy unwrap on TCP/2049 and from the NFS client's gss_unwrap_resp_priv() on every krb5p reply, so a remote NFS peer delivers the oversized-ec wrap token over the network. AC:L - A peer holding the GSS session keys can encrypt a RFC 4121 wrap token whose authenticated ec exceeds the plaintext; decrypt and the header memcmp succeed, then xdr_buf_trim() runs with that chosen length and no race or layout outside attacker control. PR:N - A malicious or compromised NFS server that already shares a krb5p GSS context needs no account or capability on the victim client; ordinary krb5p replies and NFSv4.0 GSS callbacks are processed without local privileges on that host. UI:N - Once a krb5p NFS mount exists, the client unwraps every privacy-protected reply and NFSv4.0 GSS callback with no further mount, click, or open; idle revalidations and server-driven callbacks are sufficient. S:U - The corrupted xdr_buf and subsequent XDR decode and shift run in the host kernel that processed the RPC and do not cross a VM, IOMMU, or sandbox boundary. C:H - An oversized ec makes xdr_buf_trim() underflow buf->len toward UINT_MAX, so later xdr_read_pages/xdr_shrink_bufhead use that length as a copy bound and read far past the receive buffer into adjacent kernel memory. I:H - xdr_shrink_bufhead() then calls xdr_buf_head_shift_right() with a near-UINT_MAX length derived from the wrapped buf->len, an out-of-bounds write into kernel memory that can be used for control-flow hijacking. A:H - Those unbounded XDR copies and the inconsistent xdr_buf (wrapped or zero length versus iov_lens) oops or panic nfsd or the NFS client, and the peer can repeat the request at will.

Product Status

Vendor Linux
Product Linux
Versions Default: unaffected
  • affected from cf4c024b908353fcc48309374d39e3399d67dfd1 to dfcd81ab45613d45996fbf483d4ef54b0ec90ab9 (excl.)
  • affected from cf4c024b908353fcc48309374d39e3399d67dfd1 to 1f9856af065b6158271687e9788407b9573fd16f (excl.)
  • affected from cf4c024b908353fcc48309374d39e3399d67dfd1 to 880effc943ed82d6811f272ed3307c222b40f4d6 (excl.)
  • affected from cf4c024b908353fcc48309374d39e3399d67dfd1 to ad484748eec0a66eac0f13ab53b3fbedb7333c91 (excl.)
Vendor Linux
Product Linux
Versions Default: affected
  • Version 3.13 is affected
  • unaffected from 0 to 3.13 (excl.)
  • unaffected from 6.12.109 to 6.12.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 6.18.50 to 6.18.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 7.2.4 to 7.2.* (incl.)
  • unaffected from 7.3-rc1 to * (incl.)

References