# CVE-2026-104046: SSSD memory exhaustion in IdP authentication pre-requests

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-104046-a-flaw-was-found-in-sssd-system-security-services-daemon-when  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2026-10-06. Updated: 2026-10-06  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2026-104046 · Severity: medium · CVSS 6.2 · Published 2026-10-06

SSSD (System Security Services Daemon) is a system service that manages authentication and identity services for Linux. When Identity Provider (IdP) authentication is enabled, incomplete authentication requests accumulate in memory without cleanup, allowing a local attacker to exhaust memory and cause service denial by repeatedly starting authentication flows they don't complete. The attack requires local system access but needs no special privileges.

Technologies: [Sssd](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/x-sssd).

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2026-104046 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-104046 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2026-104046?** Medium severity, with a CVSS score of 6.2, published 6 October 2026.

**Which products and versions are affected?** SSSD.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2026-104046?** No fixed version is recorded yet. Check the vendor's advisory in the references below. If you run it, Junglewise drafts a mitigation that fits your setup and applies it once you approve, with senior security engineers behind it.

**How is CVE-2026-104046 attacked?** It is attacked with local access.

**Am I affected by CVE-2026-104046?** Check whether you run Sssd. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

## Technical details

The vulnerability is a resource exhaustion flaw (CWE-770) in SSSD's pre-authentication state management when IdP authentication is active. A local, unprivileged attacker can repeatedly trigger device pre-authentication flows without completing them, causing SSSD to retain orphaned authentication state indefinitely. This unbounded memory accumulation results in denial of service by degrading or terminating the SSSD backend process.

## Affected products

- SSSD

## Timeline

- 2026-10-06: disclosed

## References

- [https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/](https://access.redhat.com/downloads/content/package-browser/)
- [https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-104046](https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-104046)

## Related threats

- [sssd denial of service via passkey Kerberos authentication](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-104044-a-flaw-was-found-in-sssd-a-local-attacker-can-trigger-a-denial)
- [sssd PAM responder denial of service via out-of-bounds read](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-104042-a-flaw-was-found-in-sssd-a-local-attacker-can-cause-a-denial-of)
- [SSSD use-after-free in PAM GSSAPI responder](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-104039-a-flaw-was-found-in-sssd-a-local-user-can-cause-a-denial-of)