# CVE-2026-89542: SUNRPC: harden gss_krb5_unwrap_v2 against short tokens

> A missing length check in the Linux kernel's SUNRPC GSS-KRB5 unwrap function allows out-of-bounds reads and integer overflows, potentially leading to system crashes or code execution.

- **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:** 11 Sep 2026
- **Updated:** 19 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** AZL-100515, BELL-CVE-2026-89542, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-89542, GHSA-h928-qw5v-x6vj, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-89542

## What is CVE-2026-89542?

CVE-2026-89542 is a critical vulnerability in Linux, published on 11 Sep 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

SUNRPC: harden gss_krb5_unwrap_v2 against short tokens

gss_krb5_unwrap_v2() reads the EC and RRC header fields at ptr+4 and
ptr+6 before validating that the token is at least GSS_KRB5_TOK_HDR_LEN
(16) bytes long, and its rotate_left() helper passes buf->len - base
to xdr_buf_subsegment() without verifying that base <= buf->len. When
a caller hands in a sub-16-byte token, or a token whose declared len
leaves base past the end of the buffer, three distinct failures follow:

    gss_krb5_unwrap_v2(offset, len, buf)
      ptr = buf->head[0].iov_base + offset
      ec  = *(ptr + 4)              /* OOB read on short head */
      rrc = *(ptr + 6)              /* OOB read on short head */
      rotate_left(offset + 16, buf, rrc)
        xdr_buf_subsegment(buf, &subbuf,
                           base, buf->len - base)   /* u32 wrap when base > len */
        _rotate_left(&subbuf, shift)
          shift %= buf->len         /* divide-by-zero when base == len */

After decryption, the cleanup arithmetic has the same shape:

    movelen = min_t(unsigned int, buf->head[0].iov_len, len);
    movelen -= offset + GSS_KRB5_TOK_HDR_LEN + headskip;
    BUG_ON(offset + GSS_KRB5_TOK_HDR_LEN + headskip + movelen >
                                            buf->head[0].iov_len);

The BUG_ON re-adds the value just subtracted, so it reduces to
min(A, B) > A and is permanently false; it cannot catch the unsigned
underflow of movelen, which then drives a ~UINT_MAX-byte memmove().

Add four defense-in-depth guards inside the unwrap core so it is safe
regardless of what its callers validate:

  - reject tokens with len - offset < GSS_KRB5_TOK_HDR_LEN before
    touching ptr+4/ptr+6;
  - bail from rotate_left() when buf->len <= base, covering both the
    underflow and zero-length cases;
  - return early from _rotate_left() when buf->len is zero, so the
    shift %= buf->len modulo cannot fault;
  - replace the dead BUG_ON with a live check that returns
    GSS_S_DEFECTIVE_TOKEN before the movelen subtraction.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-89542?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-89542?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-89542 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-89542 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-89542 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-89542 is a critical vulnerability in Linux, published on 11 Sep 2026. 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-2026-89542 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: 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-2026-89542/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-89542/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-89542
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-89542
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-89542

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-89542/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.