A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability was found in gssproxy. When a GSSX_INIT_SEC_CONTEXT request is received with the target_name field absent, the daemon dereferences the resulting NULL pointer and crashes. The request requires no authentication, allowing any local user to crash the gssproxy daemon via its Unix socket. The daemon does not automatically restart, resulting in a persistent denial of service that also affects dependent services such as Kerberized NFS and IdM.

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Fixes

Solution

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Workaround

There is no way to fully mitigate this vulnerability without applying a code fix. The gssproxy Unix socket must be world-accessible for normal operation, and the default configuration accepts connections from any local user. As a partial workaround, administrators can add "Restart=on-failure" to the gssproxy systemd unit to enable automatic restarts after a crash. This does not prevent the crash but limits the denial-of-service window. Note that a persistent attacker can still outpace the restart cycle.

History

Mon, 26 Oct 2026 15:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability was found in gssproxy. When a GSSX_INIT_SEC_CONTEXT request is received with the target_name field absent, the daemon dereferences the resulting NULL pointer and crashes. The request requires no authentication, allowing any local user to crash the gssproxy daemon via its Unix socket. The daemon does not automatically restart, resulting in a persistent denial of service that also affects dependent services such as Kerberized NFS and IdM.
Title Gssproxy: gssproxy: null pointer dereference in gssx_init_sec_context crashes daemon
First Time appeared Redhat
Redhat enterprise Linux
Redhat openshift
Weaknesses CWE-476
CPEs cpe:/a:redhat:openshift:4
cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:10
cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:7
cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:8
cpe:/o:redhat:enterprise_linux:9
Vendors & Products Redhat
Redhat enterprise Linux
Redhat openshift
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 5.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'}


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cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: redhat

Published:

Updated: 2026-10-26T14:31:23.205Z

Reserved: 2026-10-26T12:51:30.432Z

Link: CVE-2026-116497

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Awaiting Analysis

Published: 2026-10-26T15:16:40.420

Modified: 2026-10-26T16:54:08.707

Link: CVE-2026-116497

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

No data.

Weaknesses