CVE-2026-116497 vulnerability in Red Hat Products
Published on October 26, 2026
Gssproxy: gssproxy: null pointer dereference in gssx_init_sec_context crashes daemon
A NULL pointer dereference vulnerability was found in gssproxy. When a GSSX_INIT_SEC_CONTEXT request is received with the target_name field absent, the daemon dereferences the resulting NULL pointer and crashes. The request requires no authentication, allowing any local user to crash the gssproxy daemon via its Unix socket. The daemon does not automatically restart, resulting in a persistent denial of service that also affects dependent services such as Kerberized NFS and IdM.
Vulnerability Analysis
CVE-2026-116497 can be exploited with local system access, and requires small amount of user privileges. This vulnerability is considered to have a low attack complexity. The potential impact of an exploit of this vulnerability is considered to have no impact on confidentiality and integrity, and a high impact on availability.
Timeline
Reported to Red Hat.
Made public. 4 days later.
Weakness Type
NULL Pointer Dereference
A NULL pointer dereference occurs when the application dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid, but is NULL, typically causing a crash or exit. NULL pointer dereference issues can occur through a number of flaws, including race conditions, and simple programming omissions.
Products Associated with CVE-2026-116497
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