CVE-2026-86345 389-ds-base: 389-ds-base: starttls plaintext-buffer retention allows on-path attacker to forge an ldap client's authentication result

Description

A flaw was found in 389-ds-base. The server does not discard plaintext bytes already buffered from a client connection when negotiating StartTLS, allowing an on-path attacker to inject a crafted LDAP message that is processed after the TLS upgrade and whose response is delivered to the client in place of the client's own pending operation's response, due to messageID collision. This can cause a client application to treat a failed authentication (bind) attempt as successful.

Exploitable remotely over the network, without an account and without any user action; an attacker can seriously compromise confidentiality, integrity or availability.

Attack vector

Network

Attack complexity

High

Privileges required

None

Interaction

None

Scope

Changed

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High

Affected products and versions