CVE-2025-26465 MEDIUM

CVE-2025-26465: Openssh: machine-in-the-middle attack if verifyhostkeydns is enabled

Vendor Red Hat
Product Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
Weakness CWE-390
Published February 18, 2025
Last update May 12, 2026

CVSS base score

6.8/10
Attack vector Network
Attack complexity High
Privileges required None
User interaction Required
Confidentiality High
Integrity High

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

What the vulnerability does

01Description

A vulnerability was found in OpenSSH when the VerifyHostKeyDNS option is enabled. A machine-in-the-middle attack can be performed by a malicious machine impersonating a legit server. This issue occurs due to how OpenSSH mishandles error codes in specific conditions when verifying the host key. For an attack to be considered successful, the attacker needs to manage to exhaust the client's memory resource first, turning the attack complexity high.

Key dates

02Disclosure timeline

February 18, 2025 CVE published
May 12, 2026 Record updated