CVE-2023-3961 - CVE House
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Status published Critical CVE-2023-3961

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

Vulnerability 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.

Impact Analysis

Refer to official advisory for detailed impact metrics.

Remediation

Ensure systems are updated to the latest vendor-supplied patch levels.

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Credits & Attribution

No credits recorded in the NVD database.

Affected Vendor

Affected Software

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.6 Extended Update Support, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.8 Extended Update Support, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.0 Extended Update Support, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9.2 Extended Update Support, Red Hat Virtualization 4 for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7, Red Hat Storage 3
Vulnerable Versions:
0:4.18.6-2.el8_9, 0:4.15.5-13.el8_6, 0:4.17.5-4.el8_8, 0:4.18.6-101.el9_3, 0:4.15.5-111.el9_0, 0:4.17.5-104.el9_2

Timeline

Official Publish: November 3rd, 2023
Last Modified: November 20th, 2025
Added to House: July 22nd, 2026

CVSS Vectors

V3: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H

Weaknesses (CWE)