What is CVE-2006-5229?

CVE-2006-5229 is a vulnerability in Novell SUSE Linux, classified under Information Disclosure. Published 2006-10-10.

Is CVE-2006-5229 known to be exploited?

4 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Information disclosure in Novell SUSE Linux

CVE-2006-5229

OpenSSH portable 4.1 on SUSE Linux, and possibly other platforms and versions, and possibly under limited configurations, allows remote attackers to determine valid usernames via timing discrepancies in which responses take longer for valid usernames than invalid ones, as demonstrated by sshtime. NOTE: as of 20061014, it appears that this issue is dependent on the use of manually-set passwords that causes delays when processing /etc/shadow due to an increased number of rounds.

Vulnerability class: Information Disclosure

Published 2006-10-10 · last modified 2026-06-16.

CVSS v2 metric

CVSS v2 base score 2.6 (Low). Vector: AV:N/AC:H/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N. This CVE predates CVSS v3 and has no v3 score from NVD.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.583 (99.1th percentile), scored 2026-10-19.

High probability of exploitation in the next 30 days — patch promptly. 99th percentile — 99.1% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.574 · newest: 0.583 · change: +0.009

Affected products

Novell SUSE Linux
OpenBSD OpenSSH — versions 4.1

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-200 — Information Disclosure

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

secunia.com/advisories/25979 (Vendor Advisory, third-party-advisory)
www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/448702/100/0/threaded (mailing-list)
www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/448025/100/0/threaded (mailing-list)
www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/448156/100/0/threaded (mailing-list)
www.vupen.com/english/advisories/2007/2545 (vdb-entry, Vendor Advisory)
www.securityfocus.com/bid/20418 (vdb-entry)
www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/448108/100/0/threaded (mailing-list)
www.osvdb.org/32721 (vdb-entry)
www.sybsecurity.com/hack-proventia-1.pdf

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2006-5229?: CVE-2006-5229 is a vulnerability in Novell SUSE Linux, classified under Information Disclosure. Published 2006-10-10.
Is CVE-2006-5229 known to be exploited?: 4 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.