CVE-2002-1235

The kadm_ser_in function in (1) the Kerberos v4compatibility administration daemon (kadmind4) in the MIT Kerberos 5 (krb5) krb5-1.2.6 and earlier, (2) kadmind in KTH Kerberos 4 (eBones) before 1.2.1, and (3) kadmind in KTH Kerberos 5 (Heimdal) before 0.5.1 when compiled with Kerberos 4 support, does not properly verify the length field of a request, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a buffer overflow attack.

Published: 2002-11-04 Last update: 2026-04-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2002-1235 is rated High Risk (68.7/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 15.10%, 96th percentile). Core evidence: EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. Mandatory action: High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2002-1235

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 32.92% 15.10% -17.81%
2 2025-03-30 37.86% 32.92% -4.94%
3 2025-03-29 37.86%

Full EPSS history (8 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2002-1235

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
10.0 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
10.0 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2002-1235

OS Trackers for CVE-2002-1235

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2002-1235 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 2 source packages (heimdal, krb5), 10 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 10. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2002-1235
redhat critical https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2002-1235

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2002-1235

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
kth kth_kerberos_4 < 1.2.1 cpe:2.3:a:kth:kth_kerberos_4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
kth kth_kerberos_5 < 0.5.1 cpe:2.3:a:kth:kth_kerberos_5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
mit kerberos_5 >= 1.0, <= 1.2.6 cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 3.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2002-1235

URL Tags
ftp://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/NetBSD/security/advisories/NetBSD-SA2002-026.txt.asc Third Party Advisory
http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/bugtraq/2002-10/0399.html Third Party Advisory
http://distro.conectiva.com.br/atualizacoes/?id=a&anuncio=000534 Third Party Advisory
http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=103539530729206&w=2 Mailing List Third Party Advisory
http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=103564944215101&w=2 Mailing List Third Party Advisory
http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=103582517126392&w=2 Mailing List Third Party Advisory
http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=103582805330339&w=2 Mailing List Third Party Advisory
http://web.mit.edu/kerberos/www/advisories/2002-002-kadm4_attacksig.txt Vendor Advisory
http://web.mit.edu/kerberos/www/advisories/MITKRB5-SA-2002-002-kadm4.txt Vendor Advisory
http://www.cert.org/advisories/CA-2002-29.html Patch Third Party Advisory US Government Resource
http://www.debian.org/security/2002/dsa-183 Third Party Advisory
http://www.debian.org/security/2002/dsa-184 Patch Third Party Advisory
http://www.debian.org/security/2002/dsa-185 Third Party Advisory
http://www.iss.net/security_center/static/10430.php Third Party Advisory
http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/875073 Third Party Advisory US Government Resource
http://www.linux-mandrake.com/en/security/2002/MDKSA-2002-073.php Third Party Advisory
http://www.pdc.kth.se/heimdal/ Third Party Advisory
http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2002-242.html Third Party Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/6024 Patch Third Party Advisory VDB Entry Vendor Advisory
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