CVE-2023-3326: Network authentication attack via pam_krb5
Noroxi assessment
Priority: Monitor (action score 39/100)
- The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
- Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 1% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 65.3% 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.
- Fixed version: FreeBSD FreeBSD 12.4-RELEASE-p3, 13.1-RELEASE-p8, 13.2-RELEASE-p1.
Low priority for now. Upgrade to FreeBSD FreeBSD 12.4-RELEASE-p3, 13.1-RELEASE-p8, 13.2-RELEASE-p1 or later.
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 · FIRST EPSS
pam_krb5 authenticates a user by essentially running kinit with the password, getting a ticket-granting ticket (tgt) from the Kerberos KDC (Key Distribution Center) over the network, as a way to verify the password. However, if a keytab is not provisioned on the system, pam_krb5 has no way to validate the response from the KDC, and essentially trusts the tgt provided over the network as being valid. In a non-default FreeBSD installation that leverages pam_krb5 for authentication and does not have a keytab provisioned, an attacker that is able to control both the password and the KDC responses can return a valid tgt, allowing authentication to occur for any user on the system.
- Published
- Jun 22, 2023
- Updated
- Jun 17, 2026
- EPSS
- 1.0% · 65th percentile
- CWE
- CWE-303
Report tools
Action score
39
Monitor
Low priority for now.
- CVSS
- 39 / 40 · 9.8 / 10
- CISA KEV
- 0 / 30 · Not listed
- EPSS
- 0 / 30 · 1.0%
CISA SSVC decision
- Exploitation
- none
- Automatable
- yes
- Technical impact
- total
Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.
Get told when this record changes
- Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
- No public exploit code on record
- A fix has been released
If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.
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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.
We use this product, ask for helpAffected 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.
| Vendor | Product | CPE |
|---|---|---|
| freebsd | freebsd | cpe:2.3:o:freebsd:freebsd |
Affected versions
NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.
- freebsd freebsdbefore 12.4
- freebsd freebsd13.0 and later · before 13.1
- freebsd freebsd12.4
- freebsd freebsd13.1
- freebsd freebsd13.2
Versions reported by the vendor
Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (freebsd). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.
FreeBSD FreeBSD
- 13.2-RELEASE and later · before 13.2-RELEASE-p1affected · release
- 13.1-RELEASE and later · before 13.1-RELEASE-p8affected · release
- 12.4-RELEASE and later · before 12.4-RELEASE-p3affected · release
Package-level exposure
OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian:12 | libpam-krb5 | from 0 | — |
Same product
freebsd: all recordsOther highest-scoring records for the same primary product.
- CVE-2020-7457In FreeBSD 12.1-STABLE before r359565, 12.1-RELEASE before p7, 11.4-STABLE before r362975, 11.4-RELEASE before p1, and 11.3-RELEASE before p60This week
- CVE-2006-0900nfsd in FreeBSD 6.0 kernel allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a crafted NFS mount request, as demonstrated by the Prot51Plan
- CVE-2018-17157In FreeBSD before 11.2-STABLE(r340854) and 11.2-RELEASE-p5, an integer overflow error when handling opcodes can cause memory corruption by s46Plan
Published before and after this one in the same product
- ← EarlierCVE-2022-32264Sep 6, 2022 · sys/netinet/tcp_timer.h in FreeBSD before 7.0 contains a denial-of-service (DoS) vulnerability due to improper handling of TSopt on TCP conn30Monitor
- ← EarlierCVE-2023-0751Feb 8, 2023 · GELI silently omits the keyfile if read from stdin26Monitor
- Later →CVE-2023-3107Aug 1, 2023 · Remote denial of service in IPv6 fragment reassembly30Monitor
Remediation
Which version to upgrade to
Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.
| Product / package | Fixed version | Source |
|---|---|---|
| FreeBSD FreeBSD | 12.4-RELEASE-p3 | Vendor (CNA) |
| FreeBSD FreeBSD | 13.1-RELEASE-p8 | Vendor (CNA) |
| FreeBSD FreeBSD | 13.2-RELEASE-p1 | Vendor (CNA) |
Exploit status
No known public exploit
No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.
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.
No dated events beyond publication.
FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).
Patch and commit links
Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.
No commit or PR link among the references.
Credits
All researchersFinders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.
Variant candidates
Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.
No nightly-computed relations.
Chain candidates
An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.
—
Bug bounty scope
No known public program.
Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).
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-303 · Incorrect Implementation of Authentication AlgorithmCVSS 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.
Attack patterns (CAPEC)
ATT&CK techniques
—
Change log
- Fix✗ → ✓
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References
Show all references (2 more)Show less
Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.