Vulnerability Report

CVE-2023-2868

RCE CISA KEV Active

Title: Barracuda ESG Remote Command Injection

RCE

Proof Of Concept

PoC Available for CVE-2023-2868

CWE Category CWE-77
Published Date May 24, 2023
Modified Date Oct 24, 2025
Exploit Status Available
Score 9.4 CVSS v3.1
Exploit Probability (EPSS)
86.96%

Vulnerability Summary

CVE-2023-2868: A remote command injection vulnerability exists in the Barracuda Email Security Gateway (appliance form factor only) product effecting versions 5.1.3.001-9.2.0.006. The vulnerability arises out of a failure to comprehensively sanitize the processing of .tar file (tape archives). The vulnerability stems from incomplete input validation of a user-supplied .tar file as it pertains to the names of the files contained within the archive. As a consequence, a remote attacker can specifically format these file names in a particular manner that will result in remotely executing a system command through Perl's qx operator with the privileges of the Email Security Gateway product. This issue was fixed as part of BNSF-36456 patch. This patch was automatically applied to all customer appliances.

Impacted Vendors

B
barracuda 5

Reference Links

https://status.barracuda.com/incidents/34kx82j5n4q9 https://www.barracuda.com/company/legal/esg-vulnerability https://status.barracuda.com/incidents/34kx82j5n4q9 https://www.barracuda.com/company/legal/esg-vulnerability https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2023-2868
CVSS v3.1
Source Entity [email protected]
Severity CRITICAL
9.8
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
N/A
Interaction
NONE
Confidentiality
N/A
Integrity
N/A
Availability
N/A
Scope
UNCHANGED
RAW VECTOR CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS v3.1
Source Entity [email protected]
Severity CRITICAL
9.4
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
N/A
Interaction
NONE
Confidentiality
N/A
Integrity
N/A
Availability
N/A
Scope
UNCHANGED
RAW VECTOR CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L

Associated Attack Patterns (CAPEC)

Total: Patterns

CVE-2023-2868 Exploits & PoCs (Proof Of Concept)

GitHub https://github.com/getdrive/PoC
View Code
GitHub https://github.com/cfielding-r7/poc-cve-2023-2868
View Code
GitHub https://github.com/cashapp323232/CVE-2023-2868CVE-2023-2868
View Code
MODIFIED

Vulnerability data or affected products updated.

PUBLISHED

Vulnerability first announced in NVD.

Attack Vector Matrix

Access Vector NETWORK
Complexity LOW
Privileges N/A
Interaction NONE
CVSS Vector String CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected Stack

No specific products linked.