CVE-2026-90995: Null Dereference (CVSS 5.5)

Description

A flaw was found in SSSD (System Security Services Daemon). A local attacker with privileges to connect to the PAM (Pluggable Authentication Modules) responder socket can send a specially crafted protocol request. If the `pam_app_services` configuration is enabled and the service item is omitted from the request, a NULL pointer dereference can occur. This vulnerability leads to a denial of service, causing the PAM responder to crash and disrupt authentication services.

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CVSS v3.1 Score

5.5

MEDIUM

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS — Exploit Prediction

0.0011

Probability of exploitation

0.01%

Percentile rank

EPSS estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A higher score means more likely to be exploited.

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-476 CWE-476

References

Other References

https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-90995 https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2479464

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-90995? +

A flaw was found in SSSD (System Security Services Daemon). A local attacker with privileges to connect to the PAM (Pluggable Authentication Modules) responder socket can send a specially crafted protocol request. If the `pam_app_services` configuration is enabled and the service item is omitted from the request, a NULL pointer dereference can occur. This vulnerability leads to a denial of service, causing the PAM responder to crash and disrupt authentication services. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.5 (MEDIUM).

How severe is CVE-2026-90995? +

CVE-2026-90995 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 5.5 out of 10, rated MEDIUM. This is a medium-severity vulnerability that should be remediated as part of regular maintenance. The EPSS score is 0.0011, placing it in the 0th percentile for exploitation probability.

How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2026-90995? +

You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

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