---
id: CVE-2026-3497
title: >-
  Vulnerability in the OpenSSH GSSAPI delta included in various Linux
  distributions
summary: >-
  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 s…
severity: low
cvss: 2.7
cvssVector: 'CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N'
cvssSource: cna
cwe:
  - CWE-908
vendor: Ubuntu
product: openssh
affected:
  - 'openssh >= 1:10.0p1-5ubuntu5 < 1:10.0p1-5ubuntu5.1'
  - 'openssh >= 1:9.6p1-3ubuntu13 < 1:9.6p1-3ubuntu13.15'
  - 'openssh >= 1:8.9p1-3 < 1:8.9p1-3ubuntu0.14'
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'yes'
  technicalImpact: partial
  timestamp: '2026-03-12T19:04:05.760026Z'
published: '2026-03-12'
updated: '2026-09-08'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-08T08:44:22.465Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-3497'
references:
  - url: 'https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-3497'
  - url: 'https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/03/12/3'
tags:
  - cve.org
epss: 0.0218
epssPercentile: 0.81575
ingestedAt: '2026-09-08T15:33:26.994Z'
---

## Overview

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.

## Affected

- `openssh >= 1:10.0p1-5ubuntu5 < 1:10.0p1-5ubuntu5.1`
- `openssh >= 1:9.6p1-3ubuntu13 < 1:9.6p1-3ubuntu13.15`
- `openssh >= 1:8.9p1-3 < 1:8.9p1-3ubuntu0.14`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.