# CVE-2020-10595: Memory corruption in n/a

> A buffer overflow in pam-krb5 allows remote code execution when supplemental Kerberos prompting is enabled, requiring specific non-default configurations.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 31 Mar 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2020-10595, DLA-2166-1, DSA-4648-1, GHSA-63wp-w3mg-whpq, UBUNTU-CVE-2020-10595, USN-4314-1

## What is CVE-2020-10595?

CVE-2020-10595 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 31 Mar 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

pam-krb5 before 4.9 has a buffer overflow that might cause remote code execution in situations involving supplemental prompting by a Kerberos library. It may overflow a buffer provided by the underlying Kerberos library by a single '\0' byte if an attacker responds to a prompt with an answer of a carefully chosen length. The effect may range from heap corruption to stack corruption depending on the structure of the underlying Kerberos library, with unknown effects but possibly including code execution. This code path is not used for normal authentication, but only when the Kerberos library does supplemental prompting, such as with PKINIT or when using the non-standard no_prompt PAM configuration option.

Weakness: CWE-120 (Buffer Copy without Checking Size of Input)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-10595?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Debian Debian Linux, Pam-Krb5 Project Pam-Krb5.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-10595?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2020-10595 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-10595 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Debian Debian Linux

- [CVE-2015-3306](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-3306/): ProFTPD Improper Access Control (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-49113](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-49113/): RoundCube Webmail Deserialization of Untrusted Data (critical 9.9, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-24061](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-24061/): GNU InetUtils Argument Injection (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-39682](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-39682/): Linux Kernel Improper Check for Unusual or Exceptional Conditions (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-9680](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-9680/): Mozilla Firefox Use-After-Free (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-10595 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-10595 is a critical memory corruption vulnerability in Debian Debian Linux, published on 31 Mar 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-10595 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Debian Debian Linux. 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-2020-10595/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-10595/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-10595
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-10595
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-10595

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-10595/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.