CVE-2009-0846

The asn1_decode_generaltime function in lib/krb5/asn.1/asn1_decode.c in the ASN.1 GeneralizedTime decoder in MIT Kerberos 5 (aka krb5) before 1.6.4 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (daemon crash) or possibly execute arbitrary code via vectors involving an invalid DER encoding that triggers a free of an uninitialized pointer.

Published: 2009-04-09 Last update: 2026-04-23 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2009-0846 is rated High Risk (69.2/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 50.01%, 98th 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-2009-0846

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 2026-04-09 56.35% 50.01% -6.35%
2 2026-02-05 58.07% 56.35% -1.72%
3 2026-01-23 58.07%

Full EPSS history (26 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2009-0846

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-2009-0846

OS Trackers for CVE-2009-0846

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2009-0846 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-2009-0846
gentoo high CVE-2009-0846: 1 GLSA(s) (200904-09), 1 atom(s) (app-crypt/mit-krb5); latest impact high. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2009-0846
redhat critical https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2009-0846
suse critical CVE-2009-0846 severity critical: 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-2009-0846/
ubuntu medium CVE-2009-0846 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (krb5), 5 status rows across 5 suites (dapper, gutsy, hardy, intrepid, upstream): released 5. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2009-0846

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2009-0846

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
mit kerberos_5 < 1.6.4 cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 9 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 10 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 6.06 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:6.06:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 7.10 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:7.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 8.04 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:8.04:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
canonical ubuntu_linux 8.10 cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:8.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
apple mac_os_x < 10.5.7 cpe:2.3:o:apple:mac_os_x:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux 4.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux:4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_desktop 3.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_desktop:3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_desktop 4.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_desktop:4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_eus 4.7 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_eus:4.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server 2.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server:2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server 3.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server:3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_server 4.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_server:4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_workstation 2.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_workstation:2.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_workstation 3.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_workstation:3.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
redhat enterprise_linux_workstation 4.0 cpe:2.3:o:redhat:enterprise_linux_workstation:4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2009-0846

URL Tags
http://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce/2009/May/msg00002.html Mailing List
http://lists.vmware.com/pipermail/security-announce/2009/000059.html Broken Link
http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=124896429301168&w=2 Third Party Advisory
http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=130497213107107&w=2 Third Party Advisory
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2009-0409.html Third Party Advisory
http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2009-0410.html Third Party Advisory
http://secunia.com/advisories/34594 Broken Link
http://secunia.com/advisories/34598 Broken Link
http://secunia.com/advisories/34617 Broken Link
http://secunia.com/advisories/34622 Broken Link
http://secunia.com/advisories/34628 Broken Link
http://secunia.com/advisories/34630 Broken Link
http://secunia.com/advisories/34637 Broken Link
http://secunia.com/advisories/34640 Broken Link
http://secunia.com/advisories/34734 Broken Link
http://secunia.com/advisories/35074 Broken Link
http://secunia.com/advisories/35667 Broken Link
http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200904-09.xml Third Party Advisory
http://sunsolve.sun.com/search/document.do?assetkey=1-26-256728-1 Broken Link
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3549 Third Party Advisory
http://support.avaya.com/elmodocs2/security/ASA-2009-142.htm Third Party Advisory
http://support.novell.com/docs/Readmes/InfoDocument/patchbuilder/readme_5047180.html Broken Link
http://support.novell.com/docs/Readmes/InfoDocument/patchbuilder/readme_5047181.html Broken Link
http://web.mit.edu/kerberos/advisories/MITKRB5-SA-2009-002.txt Patch Vendor Advisory
http://wiki.rpath.com/Advisories:rPSA-2009-0058 Broken Link
http://wiki.rpath.com/wiki/Advisories:rPSA-2009-0058 Broken Link
http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21396120 Broken Link
http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/662091 Broken Link Third Party Advisory US Government Resource
http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2009:098 Broken Link
http://www.redhat.com/support/errata/RHSA-2009-0408.html Broken Link
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/502527/100/0/threaded Broken Link Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/502546/100/0/threaded Broken Link Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/504683/100/0/threaded Broken Link Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/34409 Broken Link Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.securitytracker.com/id?1021994 Broken Link Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/usn-755-1 Third Party Advisory
http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA09-133A.html Third Party Advisory US Government Resource
http://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2009-0008.html Third Party Advisory
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/0960 Broken Link
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/0976 Broken Link
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/1057 Broken Link
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/1106 Broken Link
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/1297 Broken Link
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/2084 Broken Link
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/2248 Broken Link
https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A10694 Broken Link
https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A5483 Broken Link
https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A6301 Broken Link
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2009-April/msg00205.html Mailing List
https://www.redhat.com/archives/fedora-package-announce/2009-April/msg00206.html Mailing List
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