Access of Uninitialized Pointer Affecting openssh-debugsource package, versions <0:8.7p1-8.amzn2023.0.18


Severity

Recommended
medium

Based on Amazon Linux security rating.

Threat Intelligence

EPSS
2.18% (81st percentile)

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  • Snyk IDSNYK-AMZN2023-OPENSSHDEBUGSOURCE-16886696
  • published27 May 2026
  • disclosed12 Mar 2026

Introduced: 12 Mar 2026

CVE-2026-3497  (opens in a new tab)
CWE-824  (opens in a new tab)

How to fix?

Upgrade Amazon-Linux:2023 openssh-debugsource to version 0:8.7p1-8.amzn2023.0.18 or higher.
This issue was patched in ALAS2023-2026-1745.

NVD Description

Note: Versions mentioned in the description apply only to the upstream openssh-debugsource package and not the openssh-debugsource package as distributed by Amazon-Linux. See How to fix? for Amazon-Linux:2023 relevant fixed versions and status.

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 Base Scores

version 3.1