cbcvebase.
CVE-2026-56766
published 2026-06-25

CVE-2026-56766: Hydra through 9.7, fixed in commit 9cc84c2, contains a stack buffer overflow in NTLM authentication across SMTP, POP3, IMAP, NNTP, HTTP, HTTP-Proxy, and…

PriorityP263high8.8CVSS 3.1
AVNACLPRNUIRSUCHIHAH
EXPLOIT
EPSS
1.32%
67.8th percentile
Hydra through 9.7, fixed in commit 9cc84c2, contains a stack buffer overflow in NTLM authentication across SMTP, POP3, IMAP, NNTP, HTTP, HTTP-Proxy, and HTTP-Proxy-Urlenum modules when processing malicious NTLM Type-2 challenges. A malicious server can send a crafted NTLM Type-2 challenge with an excessively long domain string, causing base64-encoded response data to overflow a 500-byte stack buffer by 18 to 330 bytes, enabling remote code execution on systems without stack protection.

Affected

1 ranges
VendorProductVersion rangeFixed in
vanhauser-thcthc-hydra<= 9.7

Detection & IOCsextracted from sources · hover to see the quote

othercommit 9cc84c2
bytes
334 <base64-encoded NTLM Type-2 challenge with oversized domain>\r\n
  • Detect NTLM Type-2 challenge responses on SMTP (and POP3/IMAP/NNTP/HTTP) where the base64-encoded payload causes a 500-byte stack buffer overflow by 18–330 bytes; flag oversized NTLM Type-2 domain strings in server-to-client authentication exchanges.
  • Monitor for rogue/malicious servers sending crafted NTLM Type-2 challenges with excessively long domain strings across SMTP, POP3, IMAP, NNTP, HTTP, HTTP-Proxy, and HTTP-Proxy-Urlenum protocols to Hydra clients.
  • On SMTP, flag server responses beginning with '334 ' followed by an unusually large base64 blob during an AUTH NTLM handshake, as this matches the exploit's malicious server behaviour.
  • Affected modules span SMTP, POP3, IMAP, NNTP, HTTP, HTTP-Proxy, and HTTP-Proxy-Urlenum — detection logic should cover NTLM Type-2 challenge parsing across all these protocol handlers in Hydra.
  • ·Exploitation requires the victim to actively connect Hydra to an attacker-controlled server; passive exposure is not sufficient.
  • ·Systems with stack protection (e.g., stack canaries, NX) significantly reduce exploitability; RCE is only reliably achievable on systems without these mitigations.
  • ·Red Hat notes that standard built-in security features (stack protection) cause the application to safely shut down on overflow, blocking harmful commands from running.

CVSS provenance

nvdv3.18.8HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
nvdv4.08.6HIGHCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/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:X
vendor_redhat8.8HIGH
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