CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2019-19521 — libc in OpenBSD 6.6 allows authentication bypass via the -schallenge username, as demonstrated by smtpd, ldapd, or radiusd

Critical CVSS 9.8

libc in OpenBSD 6.6 allows authentication bypass via the -schallenge username, as demonstrated by smtpd, ldapd, or radiusd. This is related to gen/auth_subr.c and gen/authenticate.c in libc (and login/login.c and xenocara/app/xenodm/greeter/verify.c).

Severity
Critical
CVSS
9.8 (3.1)
Published
2019-12-05
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
operating-system
Weaknesses
CWE-287

Affected products

  • openbsd / openbsd / 6.6

Matched remediation archetype

Authentication bypass and missing authentication

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Map every affected endpoint and protocol path, including alternate ports, legacy routes, recovery flows, service accounts, and machine-to-machine access.
  • Confirm which deployments enable the affected authentication mode and whether the interface is reachable from untrusted networks.
  • Review session, token, credential, and proxy trust configuration without attempting account takeover.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the supported fix and centralize fail-closed authentication before protected request handling.
  • Remove default or embedded credentials, rotate affected secrets and sessions, and bind authentication decisions to the intended audience and channel.
  • Add negative tests for alternate routes, malformed or absent credentials, recovery flows, and proxy-derived identity.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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