CVE-2023-38408

Summary

CVECVE-2023-38408
StatePUBLISHED
Assignermitre
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2023-07-20 03:15:10 UTC
Updated2026-10-15 00:16:34 UTC
DescriptionThe PKCS#11 feature in ssh-agent in OpenSSH before 9.3p2 has an insufficiently trustworthy search path, leading to remote code execution if an agent is forwarded to an attacker-controlled system. (Code in /usr/lib is not necessarily safe for loading into ssh-agent.) NOTE: this issue exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2016-10009.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 9.8 CRITICAL from [email protected]

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Problem Types: CWE-428 | n/a | CWE-428 CWE-428 Unquoted Search Path or Element


VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1[email protected]Primary9.8CRITICALCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
3.1ADPDECLARED9.8CRITICALCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
3.1134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0Secondary9.8CRITICALCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

NVD Known Affected Configurations (CPE 2.3)

TypeVendorProductVersionUpdateEditionLanguage
Operating System Fedoraproject Fedora 37 All All All
Operating System Fedoraproject Fedora 38 All All All
Application Openbsd Openssh All All All All
Application Openbsd Openssh 9.3 - All All
Application Openbsd Openssh 9.3 p1 All All

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Na N/a affected n/a Not specified
ADP Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518-4 PN/DP MFP affected V3.1.0 V3.1.5 custom Not specified
ADP Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518-4 PN/DP MFP affected V3.1.0 V3.1.5 custom Not specified
ADP Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518F-4 PN/DP MFP affected V3.1.0 V3.1.5 custom Not specified
ADP Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518F-4 PN/DP MFP affected V3.1.0 V3.1.5 custom Not specified
ADP Siemens SIPLUS S7-1500 CPU 1518-4 PN/DP MFP affected V3.1.0 V3.1.5 custom Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-398330.html 0b142b55-0307-4c5a-b3c9-f314f3fb7c5e cert-portal.siemens.com
oss-security - Re: Announce: OpenSSH 9.3p2 released af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.openwall.com Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
oss-security - Re: CVE-2023-38408: Remote Code Execution in OpenSSH's forwarded ssh-agent af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.openwall.com Exploit, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
www.vicarius.io/vsociety/posts/exploring-opensshs-agent-forwarding-rce-cve-20... af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.vicarius.io
[SECURITY] Fedora 38 Update: openssh-9.0p1-16.fc38 - package-announce - Fedora Mailing-Lists af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 lists.fedoraproject.org
Remote code execution in OpenSSH’s forwarded SSH-agent | Hacker News af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 news.ycombinator.com Issue Tracking, Patch
CVE-2023-38408: Remote Code Execution in OpenSSH’s forwarded ssh-agent | Qualys Security Blog af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 blog.qualys.com Third Party Advisory
[SECURITY] Fedora 37 Update: openssh-8.8p1-11.fc37 - package-announce - Fedora Mailing-Lists af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 lists.fedoraproject.org
CVE-2023-38408 OpenSSH Vulnerability in NetApp Products | NetApp Product Security af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 security.netapp.com
Ensure FIDO/PKCS11 libraries contain expected symbols · openbsd/src@f8f5a6b · GitHub af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 github.com Patch
terminate process if requested to load a PKCS#11 provider that · openbsd/src@f03a4fa · GitHub af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 github.com Patch
OpenSSH Forwarded SSH-Agent Remote Code Execution ≈ Packet Storm af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 packetstormsecurity.com Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
oss-security - Re: illumos (or at least danmcd) membership in the distros list af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.openwall.com
[SECURITY] [DLA 3532-1] openssh security update af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 lists.debian.org
OpenSSH: Security af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.openssh.com Vendor Advisory
Disallow remote addition of FIDO/PKCS11 provider libraries to · openbsd/src@7bc29a9 · GitHub af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 github.com Patch
support.apple.com/kb/HT213940 af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 support.apple.com
www.qualys.com/2023/07/19/cve-2023-38408/rce-openssh-forwarded-ssh-agent.txt af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.qualys.com Exploit, Third Party Advisory
oss-security - Re: illumos (or at least danmcd) membership in the distros list af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.openwall.com
www.openssh.com/txt/release-9.3p2 af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.openssh.com Release Notes
OpenSSH: Remote Code Execution (GLSA 202307-01) — Gentoo security af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 security.gentoo.org Third Party Advisory
[SECURITY] Fedora 37 Update: openssh-8.8p1-11.fc37 - package-announce - Fedora Mailing-Lists MITRE lists.fedoraproject.org
[SECURITY] Fedora 38 Update: openssh-9.0p1-16.fc38 - package-announce - Fedora Mailing-Lists MITRE lists.fedoraproject.org
CVE Program record CVE.ORG www.cve.org canonical
NVD vulnerability detail NVD nvd.nist.gov canonical, analysis

Legacy QID Mappings

  • 160826 Oracle Enterprise Linux Security Update for openssh (ELSA-2023-4412)
  • 160828 Oracle Enterprise Linux Security Update for openssh (ELSA-2023-4419)
  • 160836 Oracle Enterprise Linux Security Update for openssh (ELSA-2023-4382)
  • 160862 Oracle Enterprise Linux Security Update for openssh (ELSA-2023-12711)
  • 160867 Oracle Enterprise Linux Security Update for openssh (ELSA-2023-4428)
  • 199596 Ubuntu Security Notification for OpenSSH Vulnerability (USN-6242-1)
  • 199628 Ubuntu Security Notification for OpenSSH Vulnerability (USN-6242-2)
  • 241870 Red Hat Update for openssh (RHSA-2023:4329)
  • 241877 Red Hat Update for openssh (RHSA-2023:4382)
  • 241879 Red Hat Update for openssh (RHSA-2023:4381)
  • 241882 Red Hat Update for openssh (RHSA-2023:4383)
  • 241885 Red Hat Update for openssh (RHSA-2023:4384)
  • 241896 Red Hat Update for openssh (RHSA-2023:4419)
  • 241897 Red Hat Update for openssh (RHSA-2023:4413)
  • 241899 Red Hat Update for openssh (RHSA-2023:4412)
  • 257251 CentOS Security Update for openssh
  • 257283 CentOS Security Update for openssh (CESA-2023:4382)
  • 284332 Fedora Security Update for openssh (FEDORA-2023-878e04f4ae)
  • 284355 Fedora Security Update for openssh (FEDORA-2023-79a18e1725)
  • 296108 Oracle Solaris 11.4 Support Repository Update (SRU) 66.164.1 Missing (CPUJAN2024)
  • 355783 Amazon Linux Security Advisory for openssh : ALAS2-2023-2176
  • 355801 Amazon Linux Security Advisory for openssh : ALAS2023-2023-273
  • 355819 Amazon Linux Security Advisory for openssh : ALAS-2023-1802
  • 378752 Alibaba Cloud Linux Security Update for openssh (ALINUX3-SA-2023:0090)
  • 378760 Alibaba Cloud Linux Security Update for openssh (ALINUX2-SA-2023:0033)
  • 38904 OpenSSH Remote Code Execution (RCE) Vulnerability in its forwarded ssh-agent
  • 390278 Oracle Managed Virtualization (VM) Server for x86 Security Update for openssh (OVMSA-2023-0019)
  • 503049 Alpine Linux Security Update for openssh
  • 503052 Alpine Linux Security Update for openssh
  • 6000161 Debian Security Update for openssh (DLA 3532-1)
  • 673431 EulerOS Security Update for openssh (EulerOS-SA-2023-2792)
  • 673531 EulerOS Security Update for openssh (EulerOS-SA-2023-2816)
  • 673546 EulerOS Security Update for openssh (EulerOS-SA-2023-2882)
  • 673578 EulerOS Security Update for openssh (EulerOS-SA-2023-2846)
  • 673903 EulerOS Security Update for openssh (EulerOS-SA-2023-2863)
  • 674038 EulerOS Security Update for openssh (EulerOS-SA-2023-3140)
  • 674099 EulerOS Security Update for openssh (EulerOS-SA-2023-2901)
  • 691219 Free Berkeley Software Distribution (FreeBSD) Security Update for openssh (887eb570-27d3-11ee-adba-c80aa9043978)
  • 710742 Gentoo Linux OpenSSH Remote Code Execution (RCE) Vulnerability (GLSA 202307-01)
  • 754200 SUSE Enterprise Linux Security Update for openssh (SUSE-SU-2023:2950-1)
  • 754201 SUSE Enterprise Linux Security Update for openssh (SUSE-SU-2023:2947-1)
  • 754202 SUSE Enterprise Linux Security Update for openssh (SUSE-SU-2023:2946-1)
  • 754203 SUSE Enterprise Linux Security Update for openssh (SUSE-SU-2023:2945-1)
  • 907113 Common Base Linux Mariner (CBL-Mariner) Security Update for openssh (27625-1)
  • 907218 Common Base Linux Mariner (CBL-Mariner) Security Update for openssh (27651-1)
  • 941195 AlmaLinux Security Update for openssh (ALSA-2023:4419)
  • 941196 AlmaLinux Security Update for openssh (ALSA-2023:4412)
  • 960973 Rocky Linux Security Update for openssh (RLSA-2023:4419)

© CVE.report 2026

Use of this information constitutes acceptance for use in an AS IS condition. There are NO warranties, implied or otherwise, with regard to this information or its use. Any use of this information is at the user's risk. It is the responsibility of user to evaluate the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information, opinion, advice or other content. EACH USER WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY consequences of his or her direct or indirect use of this web site. ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND ARE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMED. This site will NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT or any other kind of loss.

CVE, CWE, and OVAL are registred trademarks of The MITRE Corporation and the authoritative source of CVE content is MITRE's CVE web site. This site includes MITRE data granted under the following license.

Free CVE JSON API cve.report/api

CVE.report and Source URL Uptime Status status.cve.report