CVE-2023-38408

Publication date 19 July 2023

Last updated 19 August 2025


Ubuntu priority

Cvss 3 Severity Score

9.8 · Critical

Score breakdown

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.

Read the notes from the security team

Status

Package Ubuntu Release Status
openssh-ssh1 25.04 plucky Ignored
24.10 oracular Ignored
24.04 LTS noble Ignored
23.10 mantic Ignored end of life, was needs-triage
23.04 lunar Ignored end of life, was needs-triage
22.10 kinetic Ignored end of life, was needs-triage
22.04 LTS jammy Ignored
20.04 LTS focal Ignored
18.04 LTS bionic Ignored
16.04 LTS xenial Not in release
14.04 LTS trusty Not in release
openssh 25.04 plucky
Fixed 1:9.3p1-1ubuntu2
24.10 oracular
Fixed 1:9.3p1-1ubuntu2
24.04 LTS noble
Fixed 1:9.3p1-1ubuntu2
23.10 mantic
Fixed 1:9.3p1-1ubuntu2
23.04 lunar
Fixed 1:9.0p1-1ubuntu8.4
22.10 kinetic Ignored end of life
22.04 LTS jammy
Fixed 1:8.9p1-3ubuntu0.3
20.04 LTS focal
Fixed 1:8.2p1-4ubuntu0.8
18.04 LTS bionic
Fixed 1:7.6p1-4ubuntu0.7+esm1
16.04 LTS xenial
Fixed 1:7.2p2-4ubuntu2.10+esm3
14.04 LTS trusty
Fixed 1:6.6p1-2ubuntu2.13+esm1

Get expanded security coverage with Ubuntu Pro

Reduce your average CVE exposure time from 98 days to 1 day with expanded CVE patching, ten-years security maintenance and optional support for the full stack of open-source applications. Free for personal use.

Get Ubuntu Pro 30-day free trial

Notes


mdeslaur

openssh-ssh1 is only provided for compatibility with old devices that cannot be upgraded to modern protocols. We will not be providing any security support for the openssh-ssh1 package as it is insecure and should be used in trusted environments only.

Patch details

For informational purposes only. We recommend not to cherry-pick updates. How can I get the fixes?

Package Patch details
openssh

Severity score breakdown

Parameter Value
Base score 9.8 · Critical
Attack vector Network
Attack complexity Low
Privileges required None
User interaction None
Scope Unchanged
Confidentiality High
Integrity impact High
Availability impact High
Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

References

Related Ubuntu Security Notices (USN)

Other references