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

> Samba allows path traversal in pipe names, enabling clients to connect as root to external Unix domain sockets, leading to unauthorized access or crashes.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 3 Nov 2023
- **Updated:** 20 Nov 2025
- **Also known as:** ALPINE-CVE-2023-3961, AZL-31899, AZL-37024, CLSA-2023-1700833977, CLSA-2023-1700834265, CLSA-2023-1700834882, CLSA-2023-1700835091, CLSA-2023-1700835779, CLSA-2023-1700852317, CLSA-2025-1737023462, DEBIAN-CVE-2023-3961, ECHO-d21d-5352-a8a8, GHSA-8m6h-6qw7-f6cg

## What is CVE-2023-3961?

CVE-2023-3961 is a critical path traversal vulnerability in Fedoraproject Fedora, published on 3 Nov 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official 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.

Weakness: CWE-22 (Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-3961?

It affects 5 products.


Products: Fedoraproject Fedora, Redhat Enterprise Linux, Redhat Enterprise Linux Eus, Redhat Storage, Samba Samba.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-3961?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-3961 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-3961 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Fedoraproject Fedora

- [CVE-2024-4577](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-4577/): PHP-CGI OS Command Injection (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2021-39226](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-39226/): Grafana Authentication Bypass (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2019-5544](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-5544/): VMware ESXi and Horizon DaaS OpenSLP Heap-Based Buffer Overflow (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-4947](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-4947/): Google Chromium V8 Type Confusion (critical 9.6, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-4671](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-4671/): Google Chromium Visuals Use-After-Free (critical 9.6, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-3961 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-3961 is a critical path traversal vulnerability in Fedoraproject Fedora, published on 3 Nov 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-3961 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Fedoraproject Fedora. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-3961/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-3961/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-3961
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-3961
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-3961

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-3961/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.