SSH Agent Panic

The SSH Agent is a component of the OpenSSH server that handles user authentication. When processing new identity requests, it does not validate the size of messages, which can cause a panic if the message is malformed due to an out-of-bounds read.

This vulnerability poses a significant risk as it allows attackers to potentially crash the SSH server, leading to a denial-of-service (DoS) attack or even arbitrary code execution. The impact is particularly concerning for organizations that rely on SSH for secure remote access.

You're affected if you use golang.org/x/crypto/ssh/agent before v0.45.0. To check, run the following command:

go env -o

This will display your Go environment variables, including the version of the x/crypto package.

Note: This is a niche software, and if you don't recognize "golang.org/x/crypto" or "ssh/agent", you're probably not affected. SSH Agent is an internal component of OpenSSH, so it's unlikely that other packages use this exact name.

To fix the vulnerability, upgrade to Go version 0.45.0 or later. You can download the latest version from the official Go website: https://go.dev/dl/

Immediate mitigations:

• Restrict network access to your SSH server (firewall it from the public internet)
• Audit SSH server logs for suspicious activity patterns
• Monitor for unauthorized connection attempts

• Patch
• Patch
• groups.google.com
• Vendor Advisory