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NVD / CVE Program· CNA Google

CVE-2023-2868: Remote Code injection in Barracuda Email Security Gateway

CriticalCVSS 9.8 · v3.1KEVWeaponized No fix recorded

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Now (action score 95/100)

  • CISA has confirmed exploitation in the wild (May 26, 2023). Remediation deadline for US federal agencies: Jun 16, 2023.
  • A ready-made attack module is public (Metasploit); exploiting it takes no special expertise.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 86.8% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 99.7% of all records.
  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • According to CISA the attack is automatable: targets can be found by mass scanning.
  • According to the record, no fixed version is available yet.
  • Mentioned 1 time in Turkish national cyber security advisories (siberguvenlik.gov.tr).

Patch today or shut off access. Until a fix is released, restrict access to the affected component and follow the vendor's advisory.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · CISA KEV · FIRST EPSS

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.

Published
May 24, 2023
Updated
Jun 17, 2026
EPSS
86.8% · 99th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

95

Now

Patch today or shut off access.

CVSS
39 / 40 · 9.8 / 10
CISA KEV
30 / 30 · Listed
EPSS
26 / 30 · 86.8%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
active
Automatable
yes
Technical impact
total

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
9.8
CNA · Google
9.4
0.4 point gap

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Actively exploited in the wild

CISA added this to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on May 26, 2023. That signals real attacks, not theory.

Remediation deadline for US federal agencies: Jun 16, 2023.

Get told when this record changes

  • In CISA KEV: exploitation in the wild confirmed
  • Weaponized exploit exists
  • No fixed version yet

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

Follow CVE-2023-2868

When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
barracudaemail security gateway 300 firmware
barracudaemail security gateway 300
barracudaemail security gateway 400 firmware
barracudaemail security gateway 400
barracudaemail security gateway 600 firmware
barracudaemail security gateway 600
barracudaemail security gateway 800 firmware
barracudaemail security gateway 800
barracudaemail security gateway 900 firmware
barracudaemail security gateway 900

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (Google). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • Barracuda Barracuda Email Security Gateway

    • 5.1.3.001 and later · before 9.2.0.006affected
Affected versions · NVD (5)

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • barracuda email security gateway 300 firmware5.1.3.001 and later · up to 9.2.0.006 inclusive
  • barracuda email security gateway 400 firmware5.1.3.001 and later · up to 9.2.0.006 inclusive
  • barracuda email security gateway 600 firmware5.1.3.001 and later · up to 9.2.0.006 inclusive
  • barracuda email security gateway 800 firmware5.1.3.001 and later · up to 9.2.0.006 inclusive
  • barracuda email security gateway 900 firmware5.1.3.001 and later · up to 9.2.0.006 inclusive

Same product

barracuda: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2026-116606Authentication Bypass Allows Global Configuration Restore in Barracuda Email Security GatewayKEV
    70This week
  • CVE-2026-111560OS Command Injection in Barracuda AppliancesKEV
    66This week
  • CVE-2023-7102Remote Code Execution (RCE) Vulnerability
    60This week

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

No fix version is recorded for this entry. Check the references for vendor advisories.

Exploit status

Weaponized

A ready exploit tool or active in-the-wild use is known for this vulnerability. This should be your top priority.

Evidence

  • Metasploit module ×1
  • Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub ×3

Noroxi does not host or link to exploit code. Metasploit module names and Nuclei template ids are shown (names, not code); Exploit-DB entries and PoC repositories are given as counts only.

Public exploit evidence
SourceKindDate
Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub3 repositories2023-06-20 → 2023-08-25
Metasploit moduleexploit/linux/smtp/barracuda_esg_tarfile_rceBarracuda ESG TAR Filename Command Injectionexploit2023-05-23

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

  1. Metasploit-2 d
  2. Published
  3. CISA KEV+1 d
  4. First PoC+26 d
  5. TodayNov 14, 2026+1269 d

National notice (Türkiye Cybersecurity Directorate / USOM)

Official security notices citing this record; remediation advice is on the agency's page.

All national notices →

Not on record for this CVE: EPSS history · patch commit or PR link · researcher credit · variant or chain candidate · public bounty program.

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
high · data can be read
Integrity
high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-20 · Improper Input Validation

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

nvd-primary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

References

Show all references (2 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records