The unparse implementation in the Key Distribution Center (KDC) in MIT Kerberos 5 (aka krb5) 1.6.x through 1.9, when an LDAP backend is used, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (file descriptor exhaustion and daemon hang) via a principal name that triggers use of a backslash escape sequence, as demonstrated by a \n sequence.
Conclusion & alert: CVE-2011-0281 is rated Moderate Risk (50.7/100): CVSS Medium severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 10.75%, 93th 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 | 2026-01-18 | 12.61% | 10.75% | -1.86% |
| 2 | 2025-11-09 | 11.25% | 12.61% | +1.36% |
| 3 | 2025-08-26 | — | 11.25% | — |
Full EPSS history (9 records total)
CVSS metrics for this CVE.
| Base score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability | Impact | Score source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.0 | 2.0 | MEDIUM |
|
10.0 | 2.9 | [email protected] |
| vendor | priority | summary | link |
|---|---|---|---|
debian
|
not yet assigned | CVE-2011-0281 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-2011-0281 |
gentoo
|
high | CVE-2011-0281: 1 GLSA(s) (201201-13), 1 atom(s) (app-crypt/mit-krb5); latest impact high. | https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2011-0281 |
redhat
|
high | — | https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2011-0281 |
suse
|
medium | CVE-2011-0281 severity moderate: SUSE including 111 source package names (krb5-1.12.1-19.1, krb5-1.12.1-6.3, …), 159 product×package rows across 32 product lines (SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12, SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 SP1, … (32 product lines)): Fixed 159. | https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2011-0281/ |
ubuntu
|
medium | CVE-2011-0281 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (krb5), 6 status rows across 6 suites (dapper, hardy, karmic, lucid, maverick, upstream): released 4, needs-triage 1, not-affected 1. | https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2011-0281 |
| Vendor | Product | Version | Raw CPE |
|---|---|---|---|
| mit | kerberos | 5-1.6.3 | cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos:5-1.6.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| mit | kerberos_5 | 1.6 | 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:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| mit | kerberos_5 | 1.7 | cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:1.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| mit | kerberos_5 | 1.7.1 | cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:1.7.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| mit | kerberos_5 | 1.8 | cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:1.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| mit | kerberos_5 | 1.8.1 | cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:1.8.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| mit | kerberos_5 | 1.8.2 | cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:1.8.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| mit | kerberos_5 | 1.8.3 | cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:1.8.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| mit | kerberos_5 | 1.9 | cpe:2.3:a:mit:kerberos_5:1.9:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |