Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-43620

Memory Safety in Samba Rsync ≤ 3.4.2

Public PoCMemory Safety
Published
20 May 2026
Modified
24 July 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v4 6.9
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
EPSS Score 0.0043 35th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-43620 is a medium-severity Out-of-bounds Read (CWE-125) vulnerability in Samba Rsync. Its CVSS base score is 6.9 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Application or System Exploitation (T1499.004); ranked at the 35th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Rsync version 3.4.2 and prior contain a receiver-side out-of-bounds array read vulnerability in recv_files() in receiver.c that allows a malicious rsync server to crash the rsync client process. Attackers can exploit the vulnerability by setting CF_INC_RECURSE in compatibility flags and…

more

sending a specially crafted file list where the first sorted entry is not the leading dot directory, followed by a transfer record with ndx=0 and an iflag word without ITEM_TRANSFER, causing the receiver to read 8 bytes before the allocated pointer array and dereference an invalid pointer at an unmapped address, resulting in a deterministic SIGSEGV crash of the rsync client.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1499.004 Application or System Exploitation Impact
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities that can cause an application or system to crash and deny availability to users.
Why these techniques?

Out-of-bounds read in rsync receiver enables malicious server to deterministically crash client via crafted file list (SIGSEGV), matching application exploitation for endpoint DoS.

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-43618Same product: Samba Rsync
CVE-2026-43619Same product: Samba Rsync
CVE-2026-41035Same product: Samba Rsync
CVE-2026-45232Same product: Samba Rsync
CVE-2026-43617Same product: Samba Rsync
CVE-2026-29518Same product: Samba Rsync
CVE-2023-5568Same vendor: Samba
CVE-2026-45943Shared CWE-125
CVE-2026-48132Shared CWE-125
CVE-2024-31195Shared CWE-125

Affected Assets

samba
rsync
≤ 3.4.2

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SI-2 Flaw Remediation
  • SI-10 Information Input Validation
  • SC-7 Boundary Protection
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly requires timely patching of the recv_files() out-of-bounds read flaw in rsync ≤3.4.2.

prevent

Enforces validation of incoming file-list and iflag data that the crafted ndx=0 record bypasses.

prevent

Boundary protection can restrict rsync client connections to only trusted servers, blocking malicious senders.

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 mostly match
prevents

Secure-development practices such as bounds checking and memory-safe languages directly prevent out-of-bounds reads.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover instances of out-of-bounds reads after code is deployed.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching replaces vulnerable code containing out-of-bounds read flaws.

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.

detects

Security testing in development and acceptance includes fuzzing and static analysis that detect out-of-bounds read defects before release.

A.8.15 Logging partial match
detects

Logging can record evidence of an out-of-bounds read but does not prevent the weakness itself.

prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and bounds checking that directly prevent out-of-bounds reads.

prevents

Application security requirements include explicit bounds and memory-safety specifications that mitigate buffer over-reads.

prevents

Secure system architecture and engineering principles require memory-safe design patterns and runtime protections against out-of-bounds access.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe pointer arithmetic and mandate bounds-checked reads, eliminating CWE-125.

References