CVE-2009-0845

Exp

The spnego_gss_accept_sec_context function in lib/gssapi/spnego/spnego_mech.c in MIT Kerberos 5 (aka krb5) 1.5 through 1.6.3, when SPNEGO is used, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and daemon crash) via invalid ContextFlags data in the reqFlags field in a negTokenInit token.

Published: 2009-03-27 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2009-0845 is rated High Exploit Risk (62.2/100): CVSS Medium severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 5.63%, 92th percentile). Core evidence: 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Mandatory action: Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

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

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2009-0845

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2009-0845

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 19.31% 5.63% -13.68%
2 2026-01-18 23.24% 19.31% -3.93%
3 2025-12-10 23.24%

Full EPSS history (14 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2009-0845

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P 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:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
10.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2009-0845

OS Trackers for CVE-2009-0845

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2009-0845 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (krb5), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2009-0845
gentoo high CVE-2009-0845: 1 GLSA(s) (200904-09), 1 atom(s) (app-crypt/mit-krb5); latest impact high. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2009-0845
redhat high https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2009-0845
suse medium CVE-2009-0845 severity moderate: SUSE including 115 source package names (krb5-1.12.1-19.1, krb5-1.12.1-6.3, …), 170 product×package rows across 34 product lines (SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP1, … (34 product lines)): Fixed 170. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2009-0845/
ubuntu medium CVE-2009-0845 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (krb5), 5 status rows across 5 suites (dapper, gutsy, hardy, intrepid, upstream): released 3, needs-triage 1, not-affected 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2009-0845

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2009-0845

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
mit kerberos 5-1.6.3 cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos:5-1.6.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
mit kerberos_5 1.5 cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:1.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
mit kerberos_5 1.5.1 cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:1.5.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
mit kerberos_5 1.5.2 cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:1.5.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
mit kerberos_5 1.5.3 cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:1.5.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
mit kerberos_5 1.6 cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:1.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
mit kerberos_5 1.6.1 cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:1.6.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
mit kerberos_5 1.6.2 cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:1.6.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2009-0845

URL Tags
http://krbdev.mit.edu/rt/Ticket/Display.html?user=guest&pass=guest&id=6402
http://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce/2009/May/msg00002.html
http://secunia.com/advisories/34347 Vendor Advisory
http://secunia.com/advisories/34594
http://secunia.com/advisories/34617
http://secunia.com/advisories/34622
http://secunia.com/advisories/34628
http://secunia.com/advisories/34630
http://secunia.com/advisories/34637
http://secunia.com/advisories/34640
http://secunia.com/advisories/34734
http://secunia.com/advisories/35074 Vendor Advisory
http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200904-09.xml
http://src.mit.edu/fisheye/browse/krb5/trunk/src/lib/gssapi/spnego/spnego_mech.c?r1=21875&r2=22084 Exploit
http://src.mit.edu/fisheye/changelog/krb5/?cs=22084 Vendor Advisory
http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-26-256728-1
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3549
http://support.avaya.com/elmodocs2/security/ASA-2009-142.htm
http://support.novell.com/docs/Readmes/InfoDocument/patchbuilder/readme_5047180.html
http://support.novell.com/docs/Readmes/InfoDocument/patchbuilder/readme_5047181.html
http://web.mit.edu/kerberos/advisories/MITKRB5-SA-2009-001.txt
http://wiki.rpath.com/Advisories:rPSA-2009-0058
http://wiki.rpath.com/wiki/Advisories:rPSA-2009-0058
http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21396120
http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/662091 US Government Resource
http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2009:082
http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2009-0408.html
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/502526/100/0/threaded
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/502546/100/0/threaded
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/34257
http://www.securitytracker.com/id?1021867
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/usn-755-1
http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA09-133A.html US Government Resource
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/0847 Vendor Advisory
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/0976
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/1057
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/1106
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/1297
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/2248 Vendor Advisory
https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/49448
https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A10044
https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A6449
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2009-April/msg00205.html
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2009-April/msg00206.html
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