CVE-2009-0847

The asn1buf_imbed function in the ASN.1 decoder in MIT Kerberos 5 (aka krb5) 1.6.3, when PK-INIT is used, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (application crash) via a crafted length value that triggers an erroneous malloc call, related to incorrect calculations with pointer arithmetic.

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

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2009-0847 is rated Moderate Risk (41.7/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 2.77%). Mandatory action: Review affected assets and schedule 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-2009-0847

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 20.29% 2.77% -17.51%
2 2025-12-23 12.83% 20.29% +7.46%
3 2025-12-01 12.83%

Full EPSS history (12 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2009-0847

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
4.3 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:M/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:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
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.
8.6 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2009-0847

OS Trackers for CVE-2009-0847

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2009-0847 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-2009-0847
gentoo high CVE-2009-0847: 1 GLSA(s) (200904-09), 1 atom(s) (app-crypt/mit-krb5); latest impact high. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2009-0847
redhat high https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2009-0847
suse high CVE-2009-0847 severity important: 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-2009-0847/
ubuntu medium CVE-2009-0847 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (krb5), 5 status rows across 5 suites (dapper, gutsy, hardy, intrepid, upstream): released 4, not-affected 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2009-0847

Vendor comments (NVD) for CVE-2009-0847

  • Red Hat (2009-04-09T00:00:00)

    Not vulnerable. This issue did not affect the versions of krb5 as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 2.1, 3, 4, or 5.

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2009-0847

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
mit kerberos 5-1.6.3 cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos:5-1.6.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2009-0847

URL Tags
http://lists.apple.com/archives/security-announce/2009/May/msg00002.html
http://marc.info/?l=bugtraq&m=124896429301168&w=2
http://secunia.com/advisories/34594
http://secunia.com/advisories/34617
http://secunia.com/advisories/34622
http://secunia.com/advisories/34628
http://secunia.com/advisories/34637
http://secunia.com/advisories/34640
http://secunia.com/advisories/34734
http://secunia.com/advisories/35074
http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200904-09.xml
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 Vendor Advisory
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
http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2009:098
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/34408
http://www.securitytracker.com/id?1021993
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/2009/0960
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/2009/2084
http://www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2009/2248
https://oval.cisecurity.org/repository/search/definition/oval%3Aorg.mitre.oval%3Adef%3A6387
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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