[Linux][Alpine 3.23] SIGSEGV in gss_init_sec_context during concurrent SQL Server SSPI authentication
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Beschreibung
### Description
A segmentation fault occurs in the MIT Kerberos native libraries when multiple SQL Server connections concurrently perform SSPI authentication (Integrated Security) on Alpine Linux 3.23. The crash occurs during the P/Invoke call from NegotiateStreamPal.GssInitSecurityContext into gss_init_sec_context() in libgssapi_krb5.so.
This regression was introduced when Alpine updated their krb5 packages in version 3.23. The same workload runs without issue on Alpine 3.20, 3.21, and 3.22.
Our base image is mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/aspnet:8.0-alpine, so a few weeks ago this change was pulled in via our CI automatically and caused issues under load.
### Reproduction Steps
1. Create a .NET 8 application that connects to SQL Server using Integrated Security
2. Deploy to a container based on mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/aspnet:8.0-alpine (which pulls Alpine 3.23)
3. Apply concurrent load that causes connection pool expansion (4+ simultaneous new connections)
4. Application terminates with SIGSEGV
### Expected behavior
Concurrent SSPI authentication completes successfully, as it does on Alpine 3.22.
### Actual behavior
Process terminates with SIGSEGV (signal 11) during GSS-API security context initialization.
Exception Type: 0x20000000 (CLR signal-based exception)
### Regression?
Yes, in the previous release of mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/aspnet:8.0-alpine which uses Alpine 3.22, there is no issue. We confirmed by only setting the base image to mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/aspnet:8.0-alpine3.22, which resolved the issue.
### Known Workarounds
Pinning to mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/aspnet:8.0-alpine3.22 to use Alpine 3.22.
### Configuration
| Component | Version |
|-----------|---------|
| .NET Runtime | 8.0.23 (8.0.2325.60607) |
| Microsoft.Data.SqlClient | 5.x (via EF Core) |
| OS | Alpine Linux 3.23 (x64) |
| C Library | musl libc (`ld-musl-x86_64.so.1`) |
| libkrb5.so | 3.3 |
| libgssapi_krb5.so | 2.2 |
| libkrb5support.so | 0.1 |
| Container Base | `mcr.microsoft.com/dotnet/aspnet:8.0-alpine` |
### Native Module Build IDs
From the crash dump:
```
/usr/lib/libkrb5.so.3.3 Build ID: 77009165be6662630a3749ba1e753130a5e2db4c
/usr/lib/libgssapi_krb5.so.2.2 Build ID: 3d4d5273b668d9a2b0eed2a57b4810429079d683
/usr/lib/libkrb5support.so.0.1 Build ID: e7c672f5159054fff41976fa2877d7d647dfb330
```
### Other information
### Crash Analysis
#### Call Stack (from core dump)
```
IL_STUB_PInvoke(Status ByRef, SafeGssCredHandle, SafeGssContextHandle ByRef, ...)
System.Net.Security.NegotiateStreamPal.GssInitSecurityContext(...)
System.Net.Security.NegotiateStreamPal.EstablishSecurityContext(...)
System.Net.Security.NegotiateStreamPal.InitializeSecurityContext(...)
Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.SNI.SNIProxy.GenSspiClientContext(...)
Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.TdsParser.SNISSPIData(...)
Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.TdsParser.ProcessSSPI(...)
Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnectionTds.AttemptOneLogin(...)
Microsoft.Data.SqlClient.SqlInternalConnectionTds.LoginNoFailover(...)
Microsoft.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionPool.CreateObject(...)
Microsoft.Data.ProviderBase.DbConnectionPool.WaitForPendingOpen()
```
#### SafeHandle Corruption Evidence
Multiple `SafeGssContextHandle` objects show inconsistent state at crash time:
```
SafeGssContextHandle:
handle = 0x0000000000000000 (NULL - invalid)
_state = 4 (Closed/Disposed)
_fullyInitialized = true (Inconsistent with null handle)
```
This pattern indicates memory corruption or a race condition in the native GSS-API layer.
#### Parallel Stacks
Analysis of two independent crash dumps shows:
- **Dump 1:** 16 threads blocked in `GssInitSecurityContext`, 24 active SQL connections
- **Dump 2:** 4 threads blocked in `GssInitSecurityContext`, 5 active SQL connections
The crash occurs at both high and low concurrency levels.
### Root Cause Analysis
The issue appears to be a **thread-safety bug in the MIT Kerberos libraries** (`libkrb5`, `libgssapi_krb5`) shipped with Alpine 3.23. When multiple threads concurrently call `gss_init_sec_context()`:
1. The native credential cache or GSS context structures are accessed without proper synchronization
2. One thread corrupts or frees memory that another thread is actively using
3. This results in SIGSEGV when the corrupted pointer is dereferenced
The .NET `libSystem.Net.Security.Native.so` interop layer calls into these native libraries, and the crash occurs before control returns to managed code.
Beitragsleitfaden
Rechercherichtung
Beginne mit System.Net.Security.NegotiateStreamPal.GssInitSecurityContext und seiner P/Invoke-Grenze zu gss_init_sec_context(), und untersuche anschließend den Interop-Pfad von libSystem.Net.Security.Native.so. Reproduziere gleichzeitig ausgeführte Integrated-Security-Verbindungen auf Alpine 3.23 und vergleiche sie mit Alpine 3.22; abgeschlossen ist die Untersuchung, wenn die parallele SSPI-Authentifizierung ohne SIGSEGV oder Beschädigung von SafeGssContextHandle abgeschlossen wird.
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- Tech-Stack
- csharp, linux, sql
- Bereich
- authentication, operating-systems, security
- Issue-Typ
- Bug
- Schwierigkeit
- 5/5
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- Veraltet
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- 25/100