Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-5568

Memory Safety in Samba ≤ 4.19.2

Published
25 October 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 5.9
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:H
EPSS Score 0.016 73th percentile
Risk Priority 55 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-5568 is a medium-severity Heap-based Buffer Overflow (CWE-122) vulnerability in Samba Samba. Its CVSS base score is 5.9 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 27% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

A heap-based buffer overflow vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2023-5568 and also associated with CWE-122 and CWE-787, affects the Samba file and print server software. The flaw permits a remote, authenticated attacker to trigger a denial of service condition, as reflected in its CVSS 3.1 score of 5.9 requiring high attack complexity and low privileges.

An authenticated remote attacker can send specially crafted requests over the network to the affected Samba instance, resulting in memory corruption that crashes the service and disrupts availability while leaving confidentiality and most integrity properties intact.

Public advisories reference fixes included in Samba 4.19.2 along with Red Hat and Samba bug trackers that document the issue and direct administrators to updated packages for mitigation.

The associated EPSS score reached a peak of 0.1224 with a current value of 0.1035, indicating moderate and relatively stable exploitation interest following disclosure.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A heap-based Buffer Overflow flaw was discovered in Samba. It could allow a remote, authenticated attacker to exploit this vulnerability to cause a denial of service.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
T1211 Exploitation for Stealth Stealth
Adversaries may exploit vulnerabilities to evade detection by hiding activity, suppressing logging, or operating within trusted or unmonitored components.
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-4154Same product: Samba Samba
CVE-2024-12084Same vendor: Samba
CVE-2024-3758Shared CWE-122, CWE-787
CVE-2023-37294Shared CWE-122, CWE-787
CVE-2026-6305Shared CWE-122, CWE-787
CVE-2024-27374Shared CWE-122, CWE-787
CVE-2026-12844Shared CWE-122, CWE-787
CVE-2023-26416Shared CWE-122, CWE-787
CVE-2026-15422Shared CWE-122, CWE-787
CVE-2024-45139Shared CWE-122, CWE-787

Affected Assets

samba
samba
≤ 4.19.2

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.4.1

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

addresses: CWE-787

Out-of-bounds writes that corrupt control flow or inject shellcode are rendered non-executable by the same memory protections.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 full match
prevents

Secure-development practices directly require bounds checking and safe memory handling that prevent heap overflows.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover heap-overflow flaws but does not prevent their introduction in code.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Timely patching removes known heap-overflow instances after they exist.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Security testing in development and acceptance can detect heap overflows before release.

prevents

Secure development lifecycle mandates practices that reduce the likelihood of introducing heap overflows.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify bounds-checking and safe memory APIs that mitigate heap overflows.

prevents

Secure architecture and engineering principles include memory-safety and input-validation controls that address heap overflows.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly prescribe techniques (safe functions, bounds checks) that prevent heap-based buffer overflows.

prevents

Change management can enforce review gates that catch unsafe memory operations before deployment.

References