CVE-2023-38408

CRITICALNVD 9.89.8
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

“—” beside the score: it is equal to NVD's CVSS score.

Score 9.8 from GitHub Security Advisory (severity: CRITICAL) published 2023-07-20. NVD baseline CVSS 9.8; sources differ by 0.0.

Triggered by: GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
Sources: EPSS, GitHub Security Advisory, NVD CVSS v3
Trending — 4 sources updated this weekElevated
9.8EG
EchelonGraph verdictPlan a fixRemediate within your standard update timelines at low or medium mission impact and sooner than that at high (the SSVC decision on this page).
  • 8,404 internet-facing services (distinct ip:port) on record running an affected version — derived from Shodan data (© Shodan); a patched service can stay counted while its port stays open
  • High exploitation likelihood — EPSS 80%
  • Public exploit or proof-of-concept code is available
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS PROB: 80%CVSS: 9.8Exploit: Public PoCExposed services: 8,404

A fix is available — apply it.

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.

Internet exposure · derived from Shodan data

8,404 internet-facing services (distinct ip:port) on record running a version that maps to CVE-2023-38408, in our KEV-Exposure radar’s Shodan-derived sample.

across 80 countries (China, United States, Germany, France, Netherlands)top: openssh
See the KEV-Exposure radar →Derived from Shodan data. Shodan data is owned by Shodan, which holds its copyright (© Shodan). EchelonGraph claims no ownership of it or copyright in it. Aggregate, host-redacted.

How it counts: every 12 hours, when Shodan query credits allow, the radar runs one Shodan query per tracked product, reads up to 100 ip:port services per query, and keeps a service when its banner version matches a CISA-KEV or high-EPSS CVE; a service is dropped when neither a search nor a Shodan InternetDB port re-check has refreshed it for 21 days. A re-check that finds the port still listed by Shodan InternetDB refreshes the service without re-reading the banner, so a patched service can stay counted while its port stays open. A count is a banner-version inference over a sample, not an exploit test and not an internet-wide census, and the unit is a service, not a machine: a machine answering on two ports counts twice.

CVSS v3
9.8
EG Score
9.8CRITICALmedium confidence
EG Risk
91
EG Risk 91/100

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score. It fuses impact severity (EG Severity, the CVSS base score, never the KEV-floored or EPSS-lifted EG Score) with real-world exploitation and automatability, under weights EchelonGraph set by hand, so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner.

How it’s computed (value × EchelonGraph’s weight)
Severity98% × 45%
Impact severity (EG Severity): CVSS 9.8 of 10. Never the KEV-floored or EPSS-lifted EG Score.
Exploitation80% × 40%
FIRST EPSS: the 30-day exploitation probability when EchelonGraph scored this CVE.
Automatability100% × 15%
CISA's SSVC Automatable value: yes (Vulnrichment).
SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph): Track at low or medium mission impact; Attend at high (mission-essential systems).
Exploitation none (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable yes (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact total (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE.
Action: A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines at low or medium mission impact and sooner than that at high.
EPSS PROB
80%
EPSS %ILE
99th
KEV
Not listed

What the EG score is made of (scorer v4.0: the three questions the 0–10 score mixes, published apart · methodology)

The EG score (9.8): severity, escalated by confirmed exploitation. This CVE's 9.8 is its impact severity (EG Severity), not escalated.

EG Severity
9.8 CRITICALCVSS-B, impact only: no KEV listing, EPSS or EG-KEV tier raises it.GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
EG Likelihood
80% within 30 daysSource: FIRST EPSS (model v2026.06.15, score date 2026-10-22). FIRST's exploitation probability, not an EchelonGraph model.
Confirmed exploitation
None on record (CISA KEV, EG-KEV Tier 1)Reported apart from the likelihood: an observed fact, not a probability.
EG Priority
SSVC Track at medium mission impactTrack at low or medium mission impact; Attend at high (mission-essential systems).CISA BOD 26-04: 3 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; 60 days if it is not.Each input and its source: the SSVC and BOD 26-04 blocks below.

SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph)Track at low or medium mission impact; Attend at high (mission-essential systems).

A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines at low or medium mission impact and sooner than that at high.

Exploitation none (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable yes (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact total (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE. Mission impact is CISA's Mission & Well-being decision point, and only you can judge it. CISA's table makes it high when Mission Prevalence is Essential — the vulnerable component "directly provides capabilities that constitute at least one MEF for at least one entity" (MEF: mission essential function) — or when Public Well-Being Impact is Irreversible: "multiple fatalities are likely", the cyber-physical system "is likely lost or destroyed", "extreme or serious externalities" are imposed on other parties, or social systems such as elections or the financial grid "are destabilized and potentially collapse". CISA's decision table

BOD 26-04 (CISA's remediation timeline, Table 1)3 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; 60 days if it is not.

In CISA KEV no (CISA's KEV catalog) · Automatable yes (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact total (CISA Vulnrichment). Whether your system is publicly exposed is yours to answer. BOD 26-04 binds US Federal Civilian Executive Branch agencies; for anyone else it is CISA's published timeline, a reference rather than an obligation. The directive · how EchelonGraph applies it

Published

July 20, 2023

Last Modified

October 15, 2026

Advisory Details (10)

Auto-updated Oct 23, 2026
Patch available. Sources: github_commit.
Web pageMentions a patch (unverified)

[SECURITY] [DLA 3532-1] openssh security update

https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/08/msg00021.html
GitHub commit

commit f8f5a6b00398 (openbsd/src)

Fix landed in openbsd/src commit f8f5a6b00398 — awaiting tagged release

https://github.com/openbsd/src/commit/f8f5a6b003981bb824329dc987d101977beda7ca
GitHub commit

commit f03a4faa55c4 (openbsd/src)

Fix landed in openbsd/src commit f03a4faa55c4 — awaiting tagged release

https://github.com/openbsd/src/commit/f03a4faa55c4ce0818324701dadbf91988d7351d
GitHub commit

commit 7bc29a9d5cd6 (openbsd/src)

Fix landed in openbsd/src commit 7bc29a9d5cd6 — awaiting tagged release

https://github.com/openbsd/src/commit/7bc29a9d5cd697290aa056e94ecee6253d3425f8
Web page

oss-security - Re: illumos (or at least danmcd) membership in the distros list

http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/09/22/9
Web page

oss-security - Re: illumos (or at least danmcd) membership in the distros list

http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/09/22/11
Web page

oss-security - Re: Announce: OpenSSH 9.3p2 released

http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/07/20/2
Web page

oss-security - Re: CVE-2023-38408: Remote Code Execution in OpenSSH's forwarded ssh-agent

http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/07/20/1

Patch Availability(12)

Vendor / EcosystemFix (by version range) / PatchReleasedSource
ubuntuopenssh-sftp-server (1:9.0p1-1ubuntu8.4) @ lunar2026-10-21ubuntu
ubuntuopenssh-sftp-server (1:7.2p2-4ubuntu2.10+esm3) @ xenial2026-10-21ubuntu
redhatdevworkspace/devworkspace-rhel8-operator:0.22-22023-08-30redhat
redhatopenssh-0:5.3p1-125.el6_102023-08-02redhat
redhatopenssh-0:8.0p1-5.el8_1.12023-08-01redhat
redhatopenssh-0:8.0p1-5.el8_22023-08-01redhat
redhatopenssh-0:8.0p1-15.el8_62023-08-01redhat
redhatopenssh-0:8.7p1-30.el9_22023-08-01redhat
redhatopenssh-0:7.4p1-23.el7_92023-08-01redhat
redhatopenssh-0:8.0p1-7.el8_42023-08-01redhat
redhatopenssh-0:8.0p1-19.el8_82023-08-01redhat
redhatopenssh-0:8.7p1-11.el9_02023-07-31redhat

Patches are aggregated from vendor advisories (Red Hat, Microsoft, Cisco, GitHub) and package ecosystems (OSV, GHSA). Multiple rows for the same upstream release have been deduplicated.

Affected Packages

(7 across 7 ecosystems)
Alpine:v3.16(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
openssh—
  • every version up to 9.0_p1-r4: fixed in 9.0_p1-r4
—
Alpine:v3.17(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
openssh—
  • every version up to 9.1_p1-r4: fixed in 9.1_p1-r4
—
Debian:10(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
openssh1:7.9p1-10, 1:7.9p1-10+deb10u1, 1:7.9p1-10+deb10u2
  • every version up to 1:7.9p1-10+deb10u3: fixed in 1:7.9p1-10+deb10u3
—
Debian:11(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
openssh1:8.4p1-5, 1:8.4p1-5+deb11u1
  • every version up to 1:8.4p1-5+deb11u2: fixed in 1:8.4p1-5+deb11u2
—
Debian:12(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
openssh1:9.2p1-2
  • every version up to 1:9.2p1-2+deb12u1: fixed in 1:9.2p1-2+deb12u1
—
Debian:13(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
openssh—
  • every version up to 1:9.3p2-1: fixed in 1:9.3p2-1
—
Debian:14(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
openssh—
  • every version up to 1:9.3p2-1: fixed in 1:9.3p2-1
—

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Additional Vendor Advisories

(12)

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 25× in last 7d / 52× in last 30d)

Each row is a time one of our pipelines fetched, updated or re-scored this CVE. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. An arrow marks a change the record states ("CVSS v3 → 9.1"); EPSS and GHSA rows show the values recorded at that time, not what changed (EPSS values are rounded; hover one for the exact figures). Most recent first.

Showing the most recent 93 of 157 refreshes on record for this CVE.

A repeat, a row identical to one the same pipeline wrote less than 10 seconds earlier, is not a separate refresh and is not counted. 7 repeat rows among the latest 100 are merged into the row they repeat. The 64 oldest rows on record are not shown and were not checked, so the counts can still include repeats.

  1. 2026-10-23 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  2. 2026-10-23 10:36 UTCEG score recompute
  3. 2026-10-23 10:36 UTCVendor advisory
  4. 2026-10-23 10:35 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-px36-p9hv-7h2v · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  5. 2026-10-22 16:31 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  6. 2026-10-22 09:34 UTCEG score recompute
  7. 2026-10-22 09:34 UTCVendor advisory
  8. 2026-10-22 09:34 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-px36-p9hv-7h2v · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  9. 2026-10-21 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  10. 2026-10-21 08:34 UTCEG score recompute
  11. 2026-10-21 08:34 UTCVendor advisory
  12. 2026-10-21 08:34 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-px36-p9hv-7h2v · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  13. 2026-10-20 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  14. 2026-10-20 07:35 UTCEG score recompute
  15. 2026-10-20 07:35 UTCVendor advisory
  16. 2026-10-20 07:34 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-px36-p9hv-7h2v · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  17. 2026-10-19 06:35 UTCEG score recompute
  18. 2026-10-19 06:35 UTCVendor advisory
  19. 2026-10-19 06:35 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-px36-p9hv-7h2v · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  20. 2026-10-18 05:37 UTCEG score recompute
  21. 2026-10-18 05:37 UTCVendor advisory
  22. 2026-10-18 05:36 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-px36-p9hv-7h2v · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  23. 2026-10-17 04:38 UTCEG score recompute
  24. 2026-10-17 04:38 UTCVendor advisory
  25. 2026-10-17 04:38 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-px36-p9hv-7h2v · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
Show 68 more
  1. 2026-10-16 03:38 UTCEG score recompute
  2. 2026-10-16 03:38 UTCVendor advisory
  3. 2026-10-16 03:38 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-px36-p9hv-7h2v · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  4. 2026-10-15 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  5. 2026-10-15 00:27 UTCVendor advisory
  6. 2026-10-15 00:27 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-px36-p9hv-7h2v · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  7. 2026-10-14 23:46 UTCVendor advisory
  8. 2026-10-14 23:46 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-px36-p9hv-7h2v · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  9. 2026-10-14 22:15 UTCEG score recompute
  10. 2026-10-14 22:15 UTCVendor advisory
  11. 2026-10-14 22:15 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-px36-p9hv-7h2v · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  12. 2026-10-14 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  13. 2026-10-13 17:54 UTCEG score recompute
  14. 2026-10-13 17:54 UTCVendor advisory
  15. 2026-10-13 17:54 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-px36-p9hv-7h2v · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  16. 2026-10-12 16:55 UTCEG score recompute
  17. 2026-10-12 16:55 UTCVendor advisory
  18. 2026-10-12 16:55 UTCGHSA enrichmentGHSA-px36-p9hv-7h2v · GitHub severity CRITICAL · GitHub CVSS 9.8
  19. 2026-10-11 21:48 UTCEG score recompute
  20. 2026-10-09 22:03 UTCOSV refresh
  21. 2026-10-09 20:05 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  22. 2026-10-07 23:46 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  23. 2026-10-05 17:41 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  24. 2026-09-30 16:27 UTCEG score recompute
  25. 2026-09-30 15:01 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  26. 2026-09-26 15:55 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  27. 2026-09-24 14:01 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  28. 2026-09-22 14:45 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  29. 2026-09-20 06:13 UTCOSV refresh
  30. 2026-09-16 14:05 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  31. 2026-09-12 14:58 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  32. 2026-09-11 14:50 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  33. 2026-09-07 15:59 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  34. 2026-09-06 13:45 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  35. 2026-09-05 15:26 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  36. 2026-09-04 05:04 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  37. 2026-09-02 14:09 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  38. 2026-09-01 09:29 UTCOSV refresh
  39. 2026-08-30 19:15 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  40. 2026-08-28 21:38 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  41. 2026-08-27 14:23 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  42. 2026-08-25 13:46 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  43. 2026-08-24 14:14 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  44. 2026-08-21 23:47 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  45. 2026-08-19 17:02 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  46. 2026-08-16 02:12 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  47. 2026-08-15 09:07 UTCOSV refresh
  48. 2026-08-13 21:58 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  49. 2026-08-12 13:48 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  50. 2026-08-06 13:44 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  51. 2026-08-05 19:15 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  52. 2026-08-04 15:07 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  53. 2026-07-30 20:51 UTCOSV refresh
  54. 2026-07-30 16:26 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  55. 2026-07-28 15:34 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  56. 2026-07-26 14:52 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  57. 2026-07-25 14:16 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  58. 2026-07-24 14:16 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  59. 2026-07-23 02:25 UTCEG score recompute
  60. 2026-07-22 23:11 UTCEG score recompute
  61. 2026-07-22 14:06 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  62. 2026-07-21 15:23 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 80% · 99th percentile
  63. 2026-07-20 17:06 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 79% · 99th percentile
  64. 2026-07-19 14:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 77% · 99th percentile
  65. 2026-07-16 17:01 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 77% · 99th percentile
  66. 2026-07-15 16:56 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 77% · 99th percentile
  67. 2026-07-15 01:58 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 77% · 99th percentile
  68. 2026-07-13 22:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 77% · 99th percentile

Publicly available exploits

(5 references)

Public exploit code is referenced for this CVE (5 GitHub PoCs). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly.

  • GitHub PoCAdel2411/cve-2023-38408
    Published Jul 16, 2025

    An in-depth analysis of CVE 2023 38408, a critical OpenSSH vulnerability, including technical background, exploitation in controlled environments, and mitigation strategies.

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCTX-One/CVE-2023-38408
    Published Apr 19, 2025

    CVE-2023-38408 SSH Vulnerability Scanner & PoC

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCclassic130/CVE-2023-38408
    Published Jan 7, 2024

    CVE-2023-38408 Remote Code Execution in OpenSSH's forwarded ssh-agent

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCLucasPDiniz/CVE-2023-38408
    Published Nov 9, 2023

    Takeover Account OpenSSH

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCkali-mx/CVE-2023-38408
    Published Aug 9, 2023

    PoC for the recent critical vuln affecting OpenSSH versions < 9.3p2

    Open source ↗

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2023-38408?
CVE-2023-38408 is a critical-severity vulnerability; its CVE record was published on July 20, 2023. 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…
When was the CVE record for CVE-2023-38408 published?
The CVE record for CVE-2023-38408 was published on July 20, 2023. That is the record's publication date; the vulnerability itself may have been made public earlier. EchelonGraph's copy of the record carries a last-modified date of October 15, 2026; the record at its source may have been updated since.
Is CVE-2023-38408 actively exploited?
CVE-2023-38408 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 80% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days (99th percentile of EPSS-scored CVEs).
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2023-38408?
CVE-2023-38408 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2023-38408?
A fix for CVE-2023-38408 is available: update to the fixed version the vendor names in its advisory. The vendor advisories EchelonGraph has for CVE-2023-38408 are linked in the Vendor Advisories panel on this page.

Dependency Blast Radius

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