# CVE-2007-5972: Use after free in n/a

> A double free vulnerability in MIT Kerberos 5 allows remote authenticated attackers with key storage privileges to cause a denial of service or potentially execute code.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.0 (`AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:C/I:C/A:C`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 6 Dec 2007
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2007-5972, GHSA-cpvg-gx3j-rfm4

## What is CVE-2007-5972?

CVE-2007-5972 is a critical use after free vulnerability in Mit Kerberos 5, published on 6 Dec 2007. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Double free vulnerability in the krb5_def_store_mkey function in lib/kdb/kdb_default.c in MIT Kerberos 5 (krb5) 1.5 has unknown impact and remote authenticated attack vectors.  NOTE: the free operations occur in code that stores the krb5kdc master key, and so the attacker must have privileges to store this key.

Weakness: CWE-119 (Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2007-5972?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Mit Kerberos 5.

## How do I fix CVE-2007-5972?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2007-5972 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2007-5972 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Mit Kerberos 5

- [CVE-2011-0285](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-0285/): Use after free in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2008-0947](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-0947/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2007-5902](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2007-5902/): Integer overflow in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2007-4743](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2007-4743/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2007-3999](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2007-3999/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2007-5972 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2007-5972 is a critical use after free vulnerability in Mit Kerberos 5, published on 6 Dec 2007. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2007-5972 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Mit Kerberos 5. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2007-5972/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2007-5972/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2007-5972
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2007-5972
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2007-5972

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2007-5972/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.