CVE-2026-48859

mediumpriority · track · 21EPSS 0.004 · 29 %ileDEEUUS
grimoire priorityP3 · Track
Exploitable?
—
no known exploitation
Likely / severe?
0.35% (29th) EPSS
CVSS 5.3 · medium
Is it mine?
15 products
Check your exposure
Who says so?
5 sources
cnnvd · enisa_euvd · osv · cert_bund

EPSS · scored 2026-10-27

Observable Timing Discrepancy vulnerability in Erlang/OTP ssh (ssh_auth, ssh_options modules) allows unauthenticated remote username enumeration via timing side-channel in password authentication. When the SSH daemon is configured with the user_passwords or password option, ssh_auth:check_password/3 performs a PBKDF2-SHA256 computation with 600,000 iterations (~300ms) for valid usernames, but returns immediately (~0ms) for invalid usernames via the ssh_options:get_password_option/2 path. This timing difference is detectable in a single authentication attempt and allows an unauthenticated attacker to distinguish valid from invalid usernames. The user_passwords and password options are documented as intended for test purposes; the recommended alternative is pwdfun, which is not affected by this vulnerability. This vulnerability is associated with program files lib/ssh/src/ssh_auth.erl and lib/ssh/src/ssh_options.erl. This issue affects OTP from OTP 29.0 before OTP 29.0.2, corresponding to ssh from 6.0 before 6.0.1.

01

cvss

Technical severity, 0–10. One row per scoring source.

6.3
010

base score 0–10 · higher = more severe · hover a vector to decode⚠ sources disagree · low–medium · 1.7–6.3

v3.15.3mediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:Nprimary · NVD / NIST USexploitability 3.9 · impact 1.4
v4.06.3mediumCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:Nsecondary · ENISA EU
v4.06.3mediumCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:Xsecondary
v4.01.7lowCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:Xsecondary · CVSS-BT (t0sche)
02

ssvc

A stakeholder decision — act, attend, or track — from exploitation and impact.

Exploitation: none · Automatable: yes · Technical Impact: partialcoordinatorcisa_ssvcUS
03

weaknesses

The CWE weakness classes this flaw belongs to.

04

affected products (15)

Products and version ranges known to be affected.

05

advisories (2)

Vendor and ecosystem advisories describing this.

  • WID-SEC-W-2026-1887Erlang/OTP: Mehrere SchwachstellenDeutsch2026-06-10csaf · cert_bundDE

    Ein Angreifer kann mehrere Schwachstellen in Erlang/OTP ausnutzen, um Sicherheitsvorkehrungen zu umgehen, Daten zu manipulieren, vertrauliche Informationen offenzulegen oder einen Denial-of-Service-Zustand zu verursachen.

  • EEF-CVE-2026-48859SSH server timing side-channel in ssh_auth:check_password/3 allows unauthenticated username enumeration2026-06-10vendor · osvUS

    ## Summary Observable Timing Discrepancy vulnerability in Erlang/OTP ssh (ssh_auth, ssh_options modules) allows unauthenticated remote username enumeration via timing side-channel in password authentication. When the SSH daemon is configured with the `user_passwords` or `password` option, `ssh_auth:check_password/3` performs a PBKDF2-SHA256 computation with 600,000 iterations (~300ms) for valid usernames, but returns immediately (~0ms) for invalid usernames via the `ssh_options:get_password_option/2` path. This timing difference is detectable in a single authentication attempt and allows an unauthenticated attacker to distinguish valid from invalid usernames. The `user_passwords` and `password` options are documented as intended for test purposes; the recommended alternative is `pwdfun`, which is not affected by this vulnerability. This vulnerability is associated with program files `lib/ssh/src/ssh_auth.erl` and `lib/ssh/src/ssh_options.erl`. This issue affects OTP from OTP 29.0 before OTP 29.0.2, corresponding to ssh from 6.0 before 6.0.1. ## Workarounds * Use the `pwdfun` option instead of `user_passwords` for password authentication. The `pwdfun` callback gives full control over timing behavior and is not affected by this vulnerability. Implementations should take care to execute in approximately constant time regardless of username validity. * Restrict SSH port access to trusted networks only via firewall rules, reducing the set of potential attackers who can perform timing measurements. ## Configurations The SSH daemon must be configured with the `user_passwords` or `password` option for password authentication. Systems using the `pwdfun` option instead are not affected.

06

also known as (3)

Other names and identifiers for this entity.

07

sources

Which sources assert this record, and when.

published 2026-06-10modified 2026-10-26
08

references (12)

External citations — patches, advisories, analysis.

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