CVE-2023-2868
9.8, critical Known exploitedBarracuda Networks ESG Appliance Improper Input Validation Vulnerability
- CVSS
- 9.8, critical critical CVSS v3.1
- EPSS, next 30 days
- 88% higher than 99.7% of scored CVEs
- Exploitation
- Confirmed in the wild
- Published
- 24 May 20233 years ago
Known exploited
CISA added this to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog on 26 May 2023. US federal agencies had to remediate by 16 Jun 2023, a deadline that has passed.
Required action. Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Description
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.
Details
- Vendor
- Barracuda Networks
- Product
- Barracuda Email Security Gateway
- Weakness
- CWE-20 (opens in a new tab)
- Status
- Analyzed
- Updated
- 17 Jun 2026
- Assigner
- cve-coordination@google.com
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
References 3
Advisories 2
The kind is read from NVD's tags where present and from the shape of the URL otherwise, so treat it as a hint.
Beyond this page
Is CVE-2023-2868 in your network?
This page tells you how dangerous CVE-2023-2868 is out there. Whether it sits on one of your devices, only a scan of your own network can tell. That is what our systems do, every day, for the companies we protect.
CVE-2023-2868 is in the CISA catalogue of exploited vulnerabilities: attackers are already exploiting it.
-
EXYS7600 OCELOT
Find it before attackers do
Ocelot scans your network on a schedule and reports every vulnerability it finds by its CVE identifier, with its CVSS score and how many of your hosts are affected. A finding like CVE-2023-2868 comes with the devices to patch.
Learn more about EXYS7600 OCELOT -
EXYS7950 KONDRA
Detect it if it's exploited
Until the patch is applied, Kondra monitors your network, events and endpoints in real time. It keeps an inventory of the software installed on every endpoint, and its anomaly detection rules flag what an attacker does once inside.
Learn more about EXYS7950 KONDRA
Assembled from the NVD 2.0 API, the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog and FIRST EPSS. Scores are as of our last collection on 17 Oct 2026, not the live upstream state.