Samba
CVE-2023-3961
CRITICAL
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A01:2025 - Broken Access Control
ASVS 5.0
V5 - File Handling Path canonicalization, traversal prevention
MITRE ATT&CK
2 techniques across 2 tactics: Discovery, Collection The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Impact | CVSS score of 9.8 (CRITICAL). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, no user interaction not required. Public proof-of-concept exploit code is available. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | A remote attacker could access files and directories outside the intended path by sending crafted requests to the affected application. No authentication is required to exploit this vulnerability. |
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Alert meAnalysisAI
A path traversal vulnerability was identified in Samba when processing client pipe names connecting to Unix domain sockets within a private directory. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
RemediationAI
No vendor patch is available at time of analysis. Monitor vendor advisories for updates. Validate and canonicalize file paths. Use chroot or sandboxing. Reject input containing path separators or '../' sequences.
Affects your stack
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Technical ContextAI · show details
This vulnerability is classified as Path Traversal (CWE-22), which allows attackers to access files and directories outside the intended path. A path traversal vulnerability was identified in Samba when processing client pipe names connecting to Unix domain sockets within a private directory. Samba typically uses this mechanism to connect SMB clients to remote procedure call (RPC) services like SAMR LSA or SPOOLSS, which Samba initiates on demand. However, due to inadequate sanitization of incoming client pipe names, allowing a client to send a pipe name containing Unix directory traversal characters (../). This could result in SMB clients connecting as root to Unix domain sockets outside the private directory. If an attacker or client managed to send a pipe name resolving to an external service using an existing Unix domain socket, it could potentially lead to unauthorized access to the service and consequential adverse events, including compromise or service crashes. Affected products include: Samba, Redhat Storage, Redhat Enterprise Linux, Redhat Enterprise Linux Eus, Fedoraproject Fedora.
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- Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
DescriptionNVD
A path traversal vulnerability was identified in Samba when processing client pipe names connecting to Unix domain sockets within a private directory. Samba typically uses this mechanism to connect SMB clients to remote procedure call (RPC) services like SAMR LSA or SPOOLSS, which Samba initiates on demand. However, due to inadequate sanitization of incoming client pipe names, allowing a client to send a pipe name containing Unix directory traversal characters (../). This could result in SMB clients connecting as root to Unix domain sockets outside the private directory. If an attacker or client managed to send a pipe name resolving to an external service using an existing Unix domain socket, it could potentially lead to unauthorized access to the service and consequential adverse events, including compromise or service crashes.
Threat Intelligence Overview
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.
Path traversal exploits occur when applications use user-controlled input to construct file system paths without proper validation.
Affected Products (CPE)NVD
Samba since version 3.5.0 and before 4.6.4, 4.5.10 and 4.4.14 is vulnerable to remote code execution vulnerability, allo
The RPC code generator in Samba 3.x before 3.4.16, 3.5.x before 3.5.14, and 3.6.x before 3.6.4 does not implement valida
The Netlogon server implementation in smbd in Samba 3.5.x and 3.6.x before 3.6.25, 4.0.x before 4.0.25, 4.1.x before 4.1
The MS-SAMR and MS-LSAD protocol implementations in Samba 3.x and 4.x before 4.2.11, 4.3.x before 4.3.8, and 4.4.x befor
Integer overflow in the read_nttrans_ea_list function in nttrans.c in smbd in Samba 3.x before 3.5.22, 3.6.x before 3.6.
NetBIOS name services daemon (nmbd) in Samba 4.0.x before 4.0.21 and 4.1.x before 4.1.11 allows remote attackers to exec
Heap-based buffer overflow in process.c in smbd in Samba 3.0, as used in the file-sharing service on the BlackBerry Play
The LDAP server in the AD domain controller in Samba 4.x before 4.1.22 does not check return values to ensure successful
Samba before 4.7.3 might allow remote attackers to obtain sensitive information by leveraging failure of the server to c
Use-after-free vulnerability in Samba 4.x before 4.7.3 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted S
A flaw was found in rsync which could be triggered when rsync compares file checksums. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), t
vfs.c in smbd in Samba 3.x and 4.x before 4.1.22, 4.2.x before 4.2.7, and 4.3.x before 4.3.3, when share names with cert
GitHub PoC
Exploit-DB