CVE-2026-57914 in Kerby
Summary
by MITRE • 06/26/2026
By sending a deeply nested ASN1 structure to a Apache Kerby client or service, it's possible to trigger a StackOverFlow Exception which can lead to denial of service issues. Users are recommended to upgrade to version 2.1.2, which fixes this issue.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/26/2026
This vulnerability represents a classic stack overflow condition that arises from insufficient input validation in ASN1 parsing operations within Apache Kerby implementations. The flaw occurs when the system processes deeply nested ASN1 structures that exceed the allocated stack space during recursive parsing operations. This type of vulnerability falls under CWE-674 which specifically addresses uncontrolled recursion leading to stack overflow conditions. The issue manifests when the Kerby client or service attempts to parse malformed ASN1 data containing excessive nesting levels, causing the JVM to throw a StackOverflowError that terminates the application process.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple denial of service scenarios as it can be exploited by attackers to disrupt authentication services and key management operations within Kerberos environments. When triggered, the stack overflow exception effectively renders the affected Kerby service unavailable to legitimate users while potentially exposing system resources to further exploitation attempts. This vulnerability directly impacts the availability aspect of the CIA triad and can be categorized under ATT&CK technique T1499.3 for network denial of service attacks. The attack vector requires minimal privileges since it operates at the protocol parsing layer, making it particularly dangerous in environments where Kerby services handle authentication requests from multiple clients simultaneously.
The root cause stems from inadequate depth limiting mechanisms during ASN1 structure parsing within the Apache Kerby library implementation. This vulnerability demonstrates poor defensive programming practices where recursive parsing functions lack proper termination conditions or stack depth checks. The fix implemented in version 2.1.2 addresses this by introducing proper recursion depth limits and enhanced input validation routines that prevent excessive nesting levels from being processed. Organizations should prioritize upgrading to this patched version as the mitigation directly addresses the core parsing logic flaw without requiring architectural changes or additional configuration modifications. Security teams should also implement network monitoring to detect anomalous ASN1 parsing patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts, particularly in environments where Kerby services handle external authentication requests.