CVE-2023-51385

moderate-risk
Published 2023-12-18

In ssh in OpenSSH before 9.6, OS command injection might occur if a user name or host name has shell metacharacters, and this name is referenced by an expansion token in certain situations. For example, an untrusted Git repository can have a submodule with shell metacharacters in a user name or host name.

Do I need to act?

!
16.5% chance of exploitation in next 30 days
EPSS score — higher than 83% of all CVEs
-
Not on CISA KEV list
No confirmed active exploitation reported to CISA
?
Patch status unknown
Check vendor advisories for fix availability and mitigation guidance
6
CVSS 6.5/10 Medium
NETWORK / LOW complexity

Affected Products (4)

Affected Vendors

Debian Openbsd

References (24)

http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2024/Mar/21
Mailing List http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/12/26/4
Patch https://github.com/openssh/openssh-portable/commit/7ef3787c84b6b524501211b11a26c...
Mailing List https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/12/msg00017.html
Third Party Advisory https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202312-17
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20240105-0005/
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT214084
Third Party Advisory https://vin01.github.io/piptagole/ssh/security/openssh/libssh/remote-code-execut...
Third Party Advisory https://www.debian.org/security/2023/dsa-5586
Release Notes https://www.openssh.com/txt/release-9.6
Mailing List https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/12/18/2
http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2024/Mar/21
Mailing List http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/12/26/4
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2025/10/07/1
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2025/10/12/1
Patch https://github.com/openssh/openssh-portable/commit/7ef3787c84b6b524501211b11a26c...
Mailing List https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/12/msg00017.html
Third Party Advisory https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202312-17
https://security.netapp.com/advisory/ntap-20240105-0005/
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT214084
and 4 more references
47
/ 100
moderate-risk
Severity 24/34 · High
Exploitability 13/34 · Low
Exposure 10/34 · Low