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CRITICAL

CVE-2023-3961

CVSS v3

9.8

CRITICAL

EPSS Score

2.7 %

exploit probability, as of 2026-10-18

CISA KEV

No

known exploited

Exploitation

—

SSVC status

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Affected and fixed versions

Packages from OSV.dev and products from the vendors' CSAF advisories.

version not verifiedVersions not verified: read as OSV.dev and the vendors publish them, not checked against each vendor's release list.

Packages

  • sambaAlmaLinux:9all versions · fixed in 4.18.6-101.el9_3.alma.1and 33 other packages
  • sambaAlmaLinux:8all versions · fixed in 4.18.6-2.el8_9.alma.1and 33 other packages

Vendor advisories

  • CVE-2023-3961 Red Hat Product Security2,860 products fixed · 35 known affected

    samba: smbd allows client access to unix domain sockets on the file system as root

    ctdb as a component of Red Hat Storage 3 · ctdb-devel as a component of Red Hat Storage 3 · ctdb-tests as a component of Red Hat Storage 3

  • RHSA-2023:7467 Red Hat Product Security479 products fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: samba security update

  • RHSA-2023:7464 Red Hat Product Security479 products fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: samba security update

  • RHSA-2023:7408 Red Hat Product Security379 products fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: samba security update

  • RHSA-2023:7371 Red Hat Product Security551 products fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: samba security update

  • RHSA-2023:6744 Red Hat Product Security551 products fixed

    Red Hat Security Advisory: samba security update

1 more advisory

Full record on NVD

Description

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.

Technical details

Published
2023-11-03

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2023-3961?

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.

Is CVE-2023-3961 actively exploited?

Active exploitation of CVE-2023-3961 has not been confirmed. Its EPSS score was 2.7% on 2026-10-18, the estimated probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2023-3961?

CVE-2023-3961 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL severity).

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