Red Hat 389 Directory Server Password Verification memcmp comparison

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as problematic has been found in Red Hat 389 Directory Server. The impacted element is the function memcmp of the component Password Verification. The manipulation leads to comparison. This vulnerability is listed as CVE-2026-15041. The attack may be initiated remotely. There is no available exploit.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, has been found in Red Hat 389 Directory Server (version now known). This issue affects the function memcmp of the component Password Verification. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a comparison vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-697. The product compares two entities in a security-relevant context, but the comparison is incorrect, which may lead to resultant weaknesses. Impacted is confidentiality. The summary by CVE is:

A flaw was found in 389 Directory Server. The PBKDF2-SHA256 password verification function uses standard memcmp() for comparing password hashes instead of a constant-time comparison function. A remote attacker could potentially use timing measurements of LDAP bind attempts to infer partial hash information, though practical exploitation is extremely difficult due to PBKDF2 computational overhead.

It is possible to read the advisory at access.redhat.com. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-15041 since 07/08/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be initiated remotely. Technical details of the vulnerability are known, but there is no available exploit. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $5k-$25k at the moment (estimation calculated on 07/09/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 325686 (Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2026-15041), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

There is no information about possible countermeasures known. It may be suggested to replace the affected object with an alternative product.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Tenable (325686). Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• Directory Service Software

Vendor

• Red Hat

Name

• 389 Directory Server

License

• open-source

Website

• Vendor: https://www.redhat.com/

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Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

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