Security Resilience

CVE-2023-25565

Gss-Ntlmssp Project Gss-Ntlmssp ≤ 1.2.0

Published
14 February 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS Score 0.011 65th percentile
Risk Priority 60 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2023-25565 is a high-severity Free of Memory not on the Heap (CWE-590) vulnerability in Gss-Ntlmssp Project Gss-Ntlmssp. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Junk Data (T1001.001); ranked in the top 35% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

GSS-NTLMSSP is a mechglue plugin for the GSSAPI library that implements NTLM authentication. Prior to version 1.2.0, an incorrect free when decoding target information can trigger a denial of service. The error condition incorrectly assumes the `cb` and `sh` buffers…

more

contain a copy of the data that needs to be freed. However, that is not the case. This vulnerability can be triggered via the main `gss_accept_sec_context` entry point. This will likely trigger an assertion failure in `free`, causing a denial-of-service. This issue is fixed in version 1.2.0.

CWE(s)
CWE-590CWE-763

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001.001 Junk Data Command And Control
Adversaries may add junk data to protocols used for command and control to make detection more difficult.
attack.mitre.org →
T1001.003 Protocol or Service Impersonation Command And Control
Adversaries may impersonate legitimate protocols or web service traffic to disguise command and control activity and thwart analysis efforts.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003 OS Credential Dumping Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to dump credentials to obtain account login and credential material, normally in the form of a hash or a clear text password.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.001 LSASS Memory Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access credential material stored in the process memory of the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS).
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.002 Security Account Manager Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to extract credential material from the Security Account Manager (SAM) database either through in-memory techniques or through the Windows Registry where the SAM database is stored.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.005 Cached Domain Credentials Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access cached domain credentials used to allow authentication to occur in the event a domain controller is unavailable.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-25563Same product: Gss-Ntlmssp Project Gss-Ntlmssp
CVE-2023-25567Same product: Gss-Ntlmssp Project Gss-Ntlmssp
CVE-2023-25564Same product: Gss-Ntlmssp Project Gss-Ntlmssp
CVE-2023-25566Same product: Gss-Ntlmssp Project Gss-Ntlmssp
CVE-2024-50057Shared CWE-763
CVE-2025-42996Shared CWE-590
CVE-2025-42994Shared CWE-590
CVE-2026-74947Shared CWE-763
CVE-2025-32911Shared CWE-590
CVE-2026-15718Shared CWE-763

Affected Assets

gss-ntlmssp project
gss-ntlmssp
≤ 1.2.0

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 partial match
blocks

Secure SDLC practices directly prevent incorrect free() calls via code review, static analysis, and developer training.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
blocks

Secure development lifecycle mandates memory-safety practices that reduce use-after-free and invalid-free bugs.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
removes
A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
blocks

A.8.27 mandates establishing and applying secure engineering principles (including secure-by-design, least privilege, hardening, and design reviews) but does not itself stop a free() of non-heap memory from being exploitable; the weakness can still be present and reached at runtime.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid freeing pointers not obtained from heap allocators, directly mitigating CWE-590.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance partial match
finds

Security testing in development can detect invalid-free defects before release.

A.8.8 Management of technical vulnerabilities partial match
removes

References