# CVE-2026-60109: Zeek < 8.0.9 Null Pointer Dereference DoS via Kerberos KRB_ERROR Parsing


- **Severity:** High 8.7 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 9 Jul 2026
- **Updated:** 14 Jul 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-76hq-67jv-x5j7

## What is CVE-2026-60109?

CVE-2026-60109 is a high-severity vulnerability in zeek, published on 9 Jul 2026. 

### Official description

Zeek before 8.0.9 contains a null pointer dereference vulnerability in its Kerberos protocol analyzer that allows unauthenticated remote attackers to crash the sensor by sending a crafted KRB_ERROR message with error-code 25 (KDC_ERR_PREAUTH_REQUIRED) containing a PA-DATA element with padata-type 2, 3, 11, or 19. Attackers can exploit a parser and analyzer state mismatch where proc_padata() dereferences an uninitialized pa_data_element field selected by the wrong parsing arm, triggering a crash via a single UDP or TCP packet to port 88 without any credentials or prior authentication.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-60109?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Zeek Zeek.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-60109?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-60109 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-60109 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-60109 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in zeek

- [CVE-2026-60108](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-60108/): Zeek < 8.0.9 Uncontrolled Memory Consumption DoS via FTP Analyzer (high 8.7)
- [CVE-2021-41732](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-41732/): Other in n/a (high 8.2)
- [CVE-2019-12175](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-12175/): Null dereference in n/a (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-60109 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-60109 is a high-severity vulnerability in zeek, published on 9 Jul 2026. 
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-60109 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: zeek. 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-2026-60109/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-60109/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-60109
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-60109
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-60109

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-60109/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.