Medium severity · published Jun 10, 2026
CVE-2026-48859
SSH server timing side-channel in ssh_auth:check_password/3 allows unauthenticated username enumeration
5.3
CVSS
0.4%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
Observable Timing Discrepancy vulnerability in Erlang/OTP ssh (ssh_auth, ssh_options modules) allows unauthenticated remote username enumeration via timing side-channel in password authentication. When the SSH daemon is configured with the user_passwords or password option, ssh_auth:check_password/3 performs a PBKDF2-SHA256 computation with 600,000 iterations (~300ms) for valid usernames, but returns immediately (~0ms) for invalid usernames via the ssh_options:get_password_option/2 path. This timing difference is detectable in a single authentication attempt and allows an unauthenticated attacker to distinguish valid from invalid usernames. The user_passwords and password options are documented as intended for test purposes; the recommended alternative is pwdfun, which is not affected by this vulnerability. This vulnerability is associated with program files lib/ssh/src/ssh_auth.erl and lib/ssh/src/ssh_options.erl. This issue affects OTP from OTP 29.0 before OTP 29.0.2, corresponding to ssh from 6.0 before 6.0.1.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
None
Availability
None
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.4% · higher than 29% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
OT
OTP · Erlang
29.0 before 29.0.2; 6.0 before 6.0.1; 032d1bc9491a3975c68faf9bc7776115d6ae3005 before c342092ef4b369bb409d5b71ac8fd83bab74aedf · source: vendor
ER
Erlang/otp · Erlang
29.0 before 29.0.2 · source: NVD
ER
Erlang/ssh · Erlang
6.0 before 6.0.1 · source: NVD
Affected product
OT
OTP
Erlang
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