{"id":"CVE-2023-38408","url":"https://www.cyber-defence.io/tools/cve/CVE-2023-38408","generatedAt":"2026-11-04T23:11:14.417Z","title":"The 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.","description":"The 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.","published":"2023-07-20T03:15:10.000Z","lastModified":"2026-10-15T00:16:35.000Z","status":"Modified","sourceIdentifier":"cve@mitre.org","cvss":{"version":"3.1","score":9.8,"severity":"CRITICAL","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"},"cwe":["CWE-428"],"affected":["openbsd/openssh","fedoraproject/fedora"],"epss":{"score":0.797,"percentile":0.99607,"date":"2026-11-03","history":[]},"kev":{"listed":false},"exploits":{"count":0,"verified":false,"firstPublished":null,"source":"Exploit-DB (https://gitlab.com/exploit-database/exploitdb)","entries":[]},"verdict":{"level":"urgent","text":"EPSS puts the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days at 79.7%, higher than 100% of all known CVEs. Patch or mitigate before the next change window."},"changes":[],"references":[{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/173661/OpenSSH-Forwarded-SSH-Agent-Remote-Code-Execution.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/07/20/1","tags":["Exploit","Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/07/20/2","tags":["Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/09/22/11","source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/09/22/9","source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://blog.qualys.com/vulnerabilities-threat-research/2023/07/19/cve-2023-38408-remote-code-execution-in-opensshs-forwarded-ssh-agent","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://github.com/openbsd/src/commit/7bc29a9d5cd697290aa056e94ecee6253d3425f8","tags":["Patch"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://github.com/openbsd/src/commit/f03a4faa55c4ce0818324701dadbf91988d7351d","tags":["Patch"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://github.com/openbsd/src/commit/f8f5a6b003981bb824329dc987d101977beda7ca","tags":["Patch"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/08/msg00021.html","source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/CEBTJJINE2I3FHAUKKNQWMFGYMLSMWKQ/","source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/RAXVQS6ZYTULFAK3TEJHRLKZALJS3AOU/","source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36790196","tags":["Issue Tracking","Patch"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202307-01","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20230803-0010/","source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://support.apple.com/kb/HT213940","source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://www.openssh.com/security.html","tags":["Vendor Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://www.openssh.com/txt/release-9.3p2","tags":["Release Notes"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://www.qualys.com/2023/07/19/cve-2023-38408/rce-openssh-forwarded-ssh-agent.txt","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"https://www.vicarius.io/vsociety/posts/exploring-opensshs-agent-forwarding-rce-cve-2023-38408","source":"cve@mitre.org"},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/173661/OpenSSH-Forwarded-SSH-Agent-Remote-Code-Execution.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/07/20/1","tags":["Exploit","Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/07/20/2","tags":["Mailing List","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/09/22/11","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/09/22/9","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://blog.qualys.com/vulnerabilities-threat-research/2023/07/19/cve-2023-38408-remote-code-execution-in-opensshs-forwarded-ssh-agent","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://github.com/openbsd/src/commit/7bc29a9d5cd697290aa056e94ecee6253d3425f8","tags":["Patch"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://github.com/openbsd/src/commit/f03a4faa55c4ce0818324701dadbf91988d7351d","tags":["Patch"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://github.com/openbsd/src/commit/f8f5a6b003981bb824329dc987d101977beda7ca","tags":["Patch"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/08/msg00021.html","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/CEBTJJINE2I3FHAUKKNQWMFGYMLSMWKQ/","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/RAXVQS6ZYTULFAK3TEJHRLKZALJS3AOU/","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36790196","tags":["Issue Tracking","Patch"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202307-01","tags":["Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20230803-0010/","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://support.apple.com/kb/HT213940","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://www.openssh.com/security.html","tags":["Vendor Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://www.openssh.com/txt/release-9.3p2","tags":["Release Notes"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://www.qualys.com/2023/07/19/cve-2023-38408/rce-openssh-forwarded-ssh-agent.txt","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://www.vicarius.io/vsociety/posts/exploring-opensshs-agent-forwarding-rce-cve-2023-38408","source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"},{"url":"https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-398330.html","source":"0b142b55-0307-4c5a-b3c9-f314f3fb7c5e"}],"sources":{"nvd":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-38408","epss":"https://www.first.org/epss/","kev":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog","exploitdb":"https://www.exploit-db.com/"},"licence":"CC BY 4.0 — link back to the CVE Explorer if you publish the results; upstream data remains subject to its own terms."}