CVE-2023-3961 CRITICAL

CVE-2023-3961: Samba: smbd allows client access to unix domain sockets on the file system as root

Vendor Red Hat
Product Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
Weakness CWE-22 · Path traversal
Published November 3, 2023
Last update November 20, 2025

CVSS base score

9.1/10
Attack vector Network
Attack complexity Low
Privileges required None
User interaction None
Confidentiality None
Integrity High

CVSS vector

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

What the vulnerability does

01Description

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.

Key dates

02Disclosure timeline

November 3, 2023 CVE published
November 20, 2025 Record updated

Related vulnerabilities

04Related CVE