High severity · published Mar 12, 2026
CVE-2026-3497
Vulnerability in the OpenSSH GSSAPI delta included in various Linux distributions
7.5
CVSS
2.2%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
Vulnerability in the OpenSSH GSSAPI delta included in various Linux distributions. This vulnerability affects the GSSAPI patches added by various Linux distributions and does not affect the OpenSSH upstream project itself. The usage of sshpkt_disconnect() on an error, which does not terminate the process, allows an attacker to send an unexpected GSSAPI message type during the GSSAPI key exchange to the server, which will call the underlying function and continue the execution of the program without setting the related connection variables. As the variables are not initialized to NULL the code later accesses those uninitialized variables, accessing random memory, which could lead to undefined behavior. The recommended workaround is to use ssh_packet_disconnect() instead, which does terminate the process. The impact of the vulnerability depends heavily on the compiler flag hardening configuration.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)2.2% · higher than 83% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
OP
openssh · Ubuntu
1:10.0p1-5ubuntu5 before 1:10.0p1-5ubuntu5.1; 1:9.6p1-3ubuntu13 before 1:9.6p1-3ubuntu13.15; 1:8.9p1-3 before 1:8.9p1-3ubuntu0.14 · source: vendor, NVD
DL
Debian Linux · Debian
11.0 · source: NVD
EL
Enterprise Linux · Redhat
8.0; 9.0; 10.0 · source: NVD
UL
Ubuntu Linux · Canonical
25.10 · source: NVD
ME
Multicluster Engine for Kubernetes · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: CISA
OP
OpenShift Pipelines · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: CISA
RB
RHEL-8 based Middleware Containers · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: CISA
RH
Red Hat AI Inference Server 3.2 · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: CISA
RH
Red Hat AI Inference Server 3.3 · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: CISA
RH
Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2 · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: CISA
RH
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: CISA
RH
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10.0 Extended Update Support · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: CISA
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-3497
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-3497
Third Party Advisory
https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-3497
Mailing List
https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/03/12/3
Mailing List
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/03/12/3
Mailing List
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/03/14/3
Mailing List
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/03/14/4
Mailing List
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/03/18/2
