Multiple buffer overflows in the CMU Cyrus SASL library before 2.1.23 might allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (application crash) via strings that are used as input to the sasl_encode64 function in lib/saslutil.c.
Conclusion & alert: CVE-2009-0688 is rated Moderate Risk (57.9/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 8.21%, 94th 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.
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 | 39.48% | 8.21% | -31.27% |
| 2 | 2026-01-28 | 33.35% | 39.48% | +6.13% |
| 3 | 2025-12-01 | — | 33.35% | — |
Full EPSS history (13 records total)
CVSS metrics for this CVE.
| Base score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability | Impact | Score source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.5 | 2.0 | HIGH |
|
10.0 | 6.4 | [email protected] |
| vendor | priority | summary | link |
|---|---|---|---|
debian
|
not yet assigned | CVE-2009-0688 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (cyrus-sasl2), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. | https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2009-0688 |
gentoo
|
high | CVE-2009-0688: 1 GLSA(s) (200907-09), 1 atom(s) (dev-libs/cyrus-sasl); latest impact high. | https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2009-0688 |
redhat
|
high | — | https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2009-0688 |
suse
|
high | CVE-2009-0688 severity important: SUSE including 142 source package names (cyrus-sasl-2.1.22-182.20.1, cyrus-sasl-2.1.26-12.5, …), 336 product×package rows across 37 product lines (SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP1, … (37 product lines)): Fixed 336. | https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2009-0688/ |
ubuntu
|
medium | CVE-2009-0688 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (cyrus-sasl2), 5 status rows across 5 suites (dapper, hardy, intrepid, jaunty, upstream): released 5. | https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2009-0688 |
The upstream fix for this issue is not backwards compatible and introduces an ABI change not allowed in Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Therefore, there is no plan to address this problem directly in cyrus-sasl packages. All applications shipped in Red Hat Enterprise Linux and using affected sasl_encode64() function were investigated and patched if their use of the function could have security consequences. See following bug report for further details: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=CVE-2009-0688#c20
| Vendor | Product | Version | Raw CPE |
|---|---|---|---|
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | <= 2.1.22 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 1.4.1 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:1.4.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 1.5.0 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:1.5.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 1.5.2 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:1.5.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 1.5.3 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:1.5.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 1.5.5 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:1.5.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 1.5.10 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:1.5.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 1.5.11 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:1.5.11:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 1.5.13 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:1.5.13:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 1.5.15 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:1.5.15:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 1.5.16 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:1.5.16:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 1.5.20 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:1.5.20:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 1.5.21 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:1.5.21:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 1.5.22 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:1.5.22:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 1.5.23 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:1.5.23:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 1.5.24 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:1.5.24:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 1.5.26 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:1.5.26:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 1.5.27 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:1.5.27:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 1.5.28 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:1.5.28:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 2.0.0 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:2.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 2.0.1 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:2.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 2.0.2 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:2.0.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 2.0.3 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:2.0.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 2.0.4 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:2.0.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 2.0.5 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:2.0.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 2.1.0 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:2.1.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 2.1.1 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:2.1.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 2.1.2 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:2.1.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 2.1.3 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:2.1.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 2.1.5 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:2.1.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 2.1.6 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:2.1.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 2.1.7 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:2.1.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 2.1.8 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:2.1.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 2.1.9 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:2.1.9:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 2.1.10 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:2.1.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 2.1.11 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:2.1.11:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 2.1.12 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:2.1.12:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 2.1.13 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:2.1.13:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 2.1.14 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:2.1.14:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 2.1.15 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:2.1.15:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 2.1.16 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:2.1.16:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 2.1.17 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:2.1.17:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 2.1.18 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:2.1.18:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 2.1.19 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:2.1.19:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 2.1.20 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:2.1.20:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| carnegie_mellon_university | cyrus-sasl | 2.1.21 | cpe:2.3:a:carnegie_mellon_university:cyrus-sasl:2.1.21:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |