Pre-auth heap corruption via stale pblock pointer
Published Aug 12, 2026 · Updated Aug 12, 2026
Double-free in Red Hat 389-ds-base allows remote attackers to corrupt the ns-slapd heap through a critical Session Tracking control. get_ldapmessage_controls_ext() stores decoded controls in SLAPI_REQCONTROLS, frees them when rejecting that critical control, and leaves the pblock pointer for operation_done() to free again. One unauthenticated BIND request reaches the path; jemalloc on RHEL 10 and RHDS 13 absorbs the second free without a demonstrated crash, disclosure, or privilege escalation.
Summary
What happened
Double-free in Red Hat 389-ds-base allows remote attackers to corrupt the ns-slapd heap through a critical Session Tracking control. get_ldapmessage_controls_ext() stores decoded controls in SLAPI_REQCONTROLS, frees them when rejecting that critical control, and leaves the pblock pointer for operation_done() to free again. One unauthenticated BIND request reaches the path; jemalloc on RHEL 10 and RHDS 13 absorbs the second free without a demonstrated crash, disclosure, or privilege escalation.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-18663
- Published
- Aug 12, 2026
- Updated
- Aug 12, 2026
- Vendor
- 389 Directory Server
- Product
- Red Hat Directory Server
- Classifications
- CWE-415
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 12, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 12, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
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Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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