SUNRPC: Reject short RFC 4121 MIC tokens in gss_krb5_verify_mic_v2
CVE-2026-89537 · published 11 Sept 2026
How serious is it
- Severity: critical, CVSS score 9.1 out of 10.
- No exploit prediction (EPSS) score yet.
- Not on the CISA list of exploited vulnerabilities.
- No public exploit in Exploit-DB.
Is your app affected by CVE-2026-89537?
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Who is affected
- Linux Linux: de9c17eb4a912c9028f7b470eb80815144883b26 to < b2e9e10f5a536befcdce64d3e6946dff42fb823e, de9c17eb4a912c9028f7b470eb80815144883b26 to < 997577c52487181226775db3755079a3ba1d52b9, de9c17eb4a912c9028f7b470eb80815144883b26 to < 996dd15f60121bdd7896b4554458f8806d608063, de9c17eb4a912c9028f7b470eb80815144883b26 to < 7a946b2e7207f968902f2147ab9b30726f82f7ab
- Linux Linux: 2.6.35
How to check
- Find out whether you run the affected product and which version, then compare it with the versions above.
How to fix
Copies a prompt for Claude Code, Cursor or Codex that asks it to check whether you run this product.
- Apply the vendor's update or mitigation from the references below. If there is none yet, limit exposure of the affected service until there is.
- If a vulnerable version was live, check your logs and rotate the secrets that server could read.
The advisory
In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
SUNRPC: Reject short RFC 4121 MIC tokens in gss_krb5_verify_mic_v2
gss_krb5_verify_mic_v2() reads the token ID at ptr[0..1], the flags
byte at ptr[2], and padding at ptr[3..7], then passes
ptr + GSS_KRB5_TOK_HDR_LEN and cksum_len to gss_krb5_mic_build_sg().
None of these accesses check read_token->len first.
The minimum safe token size is GSS_KRB5_TOK_HDR_LEN (16) plus
ctx->krb5e->cksum_len (12-24, depending on the enctype). All callers
accept shorter tokens from the wire:
- gss_unwrap_resp_integ() enforces only an upper bound
(offset + len <= rcv_buf->len) before allocating
mic.data = kmalloc(len) and passing it to gss_verify_mic().
A malicious NFS server can therefore supply a short checksum
opaque, producing a small slab allocation that the Kerberos MIC
verifier reads past.
- gss_validate() enforces only len <= RPC_MAX_AUTH_SIZE (400)
before passing the wire-supplied length to
gss_validate_seqno_mic(), which constructs a mic xdr_netobj
and calls gss_verify_mic().
- svcauth_gss_verify_header() enforces only
checksum.len >= XDR_UNIT (4 bytes) before dispatching to
gss_verify_mic().
- svcauth_gss_unwrap_integ() checks only that the checksum fits
in gsd->gsd_scratch.
Add a length guard at the top of gss_krb5_verify_mic_v2(), before any
ptr[] access or scatterlist construction. Well-formed MIC tokens from
gss_krb5_get_mic_v2() already have exactly GSS_KRB5_TOK_HDR_LEN +
cksum_len bytes, so valid traffic is unaffected.
Check your whole app
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References
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/b2e9e10f5a536befcdce64d3e6946dff42fb823e
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/997577c52487181226775db3755079a3ba1d52b9
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/996dd15f60121bdd7896b4554458f8806d608063
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/7a946b2e7207f968902f2147ab9b30726f82f7ab
- git.kernel.org/stable/c/b94f6719dcd9f7a609bc5f459f85795900e77d25
Merged from CVE List. Last updated 26 Oct 2026. All vulnerabilities · RSS · JSON