LOGBOOK

HELP

Quiz Entry - updated: 2026.10.22

What are the main disadvantages of Kerberos?

Without the Kerberos server nobody can authenticate (single point of failure, mitigated by several KDCs); all clocks must be kept synchronised to within about 5 minutes; and if the Kerberos server is broken into, all keys are compromised.

  • Single point of failure: no KDC, no new tickets, so users cannot log in or reach new services. The fix is several KDCs that replicate the database (in Windows, every domain controller is a KDC).
  • Clock dependency: timestamps in authenticators and tickets only work if all machines agree on the time, typically within 5 minutes; otherwise authentication fails with a "clock skew too great" error.
  • Crown jewel: the KDC knows every user's and every service's long-term key. An attacker who takes over the KDC can impersonate anyone and decrypt any ticket. KDCs must therefore be among the best-protected machines in the network.

Further practical limits: Kerberos needs every service to be "kerberised" (registered in the realm with its own key), and it is designed for one administrative domain, so cross-organisation login on the internet is usually done with SAML or OpenID Connect instead.

Go deeper:

From Quiz: IAM / Network Protocols for IAM: LDAP and Kerberos | Updated: Oct 22, 2026