CVE-2020-36226Network attack vector

Unauthenticated service crash via misparsed authorization ID

Published Jan 25, 2021 · Updated Aug 4, 2024

Denial of service in OpenLDAP before 2.4.57 allows remote attackers to crash slapd through malformed saslAuthzTo values. The slap_parse_user function treats any period in the authorization ID as a mechanism separator, then subtracts mismatched pointers to calculate mech->bv_len. An unauthenticated network request that reaches SASL authorization processing terminates the directory service without exposing or altering data.

CVSS severity7.5
High
EPSS probability4.30%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Denial of service in OpenLDAP before 2.4.57 allows remote attackers to crash slapd through malformed saslAuthzTo values. The slap_parse_user function treats any period in the authorization ID as a mechanism separator, then subtracts mismatched pointers to calculate mech->bv_len. An unauthenticated network request that reaches SASL authorization processing terminates the directory service without exposing or altering data.

The record

CVE
CVE-2020-36226
Published
Jan 25, 2021
Updated
Aug 4, 2024
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
T1499.004
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jan 25, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 4, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Affected buildAffected product and version details are unavailable.

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

5.0NIST NVDAV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P
7.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1499.004Application or System Exploitation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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