CVE-2026-48859 Vulnerability Analysis & Exploit Details

CVE-2026-48859
Vulnerability Scoring

Analysis In Progress
Analysis In Progress

Attack Complexity Details

  • Attack Complexity:
    Attack Complexity Analysis In Progress
  • Attack Vector:
    Attack Vector Under Analysis
  • Privileges Required: None
    No authentication is required for exploitation.
  • Scope:
    Impact is confined to the initially vulnerable component.
  • User Interaction: None
    No user interaction is necessary for exploitation.

CVE-2026-48859 Details

Status: Received on 10 Jun 2026, 16:17 UTC

Published on: 10 Jun 2026, 16:17 UTC

CVSS Release:

CVE-2026-48859 Vulnerability Summary

CVE-2026-48859: 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 29.0.2 corresponding to ssh from 6.0 before 6.0.1.

Assessing the Risk of CVE-2026-48859

Access Complexity Graph

The exploitability of CVE-2026-48859 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).

Exploitability Analysis for CVE-2026-48859

No exploitability data is available for CVE-2026-48859.

Understanding AC and PR

A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.

Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.

Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.

CVSS Score Breakdown Chart

Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2026-48859, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.

CIA Impact Analysis

Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2026-48859, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.

  • Confidentiality: None
    CVE-2026-48859 does not compromise confidentiality.
  • Integrity: None
    CVE-2026-48859 does not impact data integrity.
  • Availability: None
    CVE-2026-48859 does not affect system availability.

CVE-2026-48859 References

External References

CWE Common Weakness Enumeration

CWE-208

CAPEC Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification

  • Cross-Domain Search Timing CAPEC-462 An attacker initiates cross domain HTTP / GET requests and times the server responses. The timing of these responses may leak important information on what is happening on the server. Browser's same origin policy prevents the attacker from directly reading the server responses (in the absence of any other weaknesses), but does not prevent the attacker from timing the responses to requests that the attacker issued cross domain.
  • Application Fingerprinting CAPEC-541 An adversary engages in fingerprinting activities to determine the type or version of an application installed on a remote target.
  • System Footprinting CAPEC-580 An adversary engages in active probing and exploration activities to determine security information about a remote target system. Often times adversaries will rely on remote applications that can be probed for system configurations.

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