CVE Intelligence
Medium Injection

CVE-2023-51385 — In ssh in OpenSSH before 9.6, OS command injection might occur if a user name or host name has...

In ssh in OpenSSH before 9.6, OS command injection might occur if a user name or host name has shell metacharacters, and this name is referenced by an expansion token in certain situations. For example, an untrusted Git repository can have a submodule with shell metacharacters in a user name or host name.

Published Dec 18, 2023 · Updated Oct 14, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP, GitHub Security Advisories · CNA: mitre

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

No exploitation signal in the sources consulted so far.
How the score was calculated
  • EPSS 19.8% (30-day exploitation probability)+15
  • Technical severity (medium)+3
  • CISA SSVC: exploitation "poc"+5
  • Automatable exploitation (SSVC)+3

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Exploitation
Not confirmed
Not in CISA KEV — an absence of record, not proof it is unexploited.
EPSS FIRST
19.75%
ahead of 97% of scored CVEs · Oct 14, 2026
Affects
Debian
Debian Linux and 1 more
CVSS base
6.5
Medium · 4 source(s)
Prioritization reference: 9.8 provisional

CISA SSVC assessment CISA

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

Exploitation
Proof of concept
none · proof-of-concept · active
Automatable
Yes
can an attacker script the kill-chain steps
Technical impact
Total
partial · total control of the vulnerable component

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

  • Documented patch — github.com (NIST National Vulnerability Database)

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

  1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Debian Debian Linux, Openbsd Openssh).
  2. The attack is network-based and needs no privileges: restrict exposure (ACLs, VPN, WAF) until patched.
  3. Apply the fixed version or the patch documented under Remediation.
  4. EPSS ahead of 97% of scored CVEs: prioritize it in the patch queue.
  5. Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (injection), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

VendorProductVersionsStatusSource
Debian Debian Linux version 10.0version 11.0version 12.0 Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database
Openbsd Openssh < 9.6 Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

ScoreVersionSeverityExpl.ImpactScored by
9.8 CVSS 3.1 Critical — — GitHub, Inc. via GitHub Security Advisories
6.5 CVSS 3.1 Medium 3.9 2.5 nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database
6.5 CVSS 3.1 Medium 3.9 2.5 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 via NIST National Vulnerability Database
6.5 CVSS 3.1 Medium — — CISA-ADP via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N (score shown at the top: nvd@nist.gov)
Sources disagree significantly and the divergence is under review. Every score is kept with its origin. For prioritization we use 9.8 (GitHub, Inc. via GitHub Security Advisories) as a conservative provisional reference — not a definitive official score.

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-78 · OS Command Injection

Other CVEs with this weakness →

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

  • Prioritize edge telemetry for the network-reachable component (proxy, WAF, IDS/IPS).
  • Look for parameters with command/query metacharacters and unexpected child processes of the service.
web/proxy/WAF logsnetwork IDS/IPSapplication logsendpoint telemetry (EDR)

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

  • 2026
  • SSVC assessment updated
    Oct 14, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Record published
    Oct 14, 2026
  • Fix documented
    Oct 14, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Affected products added · openbsd/openssh, debian/debian linux
    Oct 14, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • CVSS changed · 6.5
    Oct 14, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Source status changed · → Modified
    Oct 14, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Record created in this database
    Oct 14, 2026 · Alertas do Telegram
  • 2023
  • CVE published
    Dec 18, 2023 · mitre

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

  • 2× References added · Oct 14, 2026 – Oct 14, 2026
  • 1× Official description updated · Oct 14, 2026 – Oct 14, 2026

References

19 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

Debian
every CVE for this vendor
Injection
same class
CWE-78
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

  • CVE-2026-106583 In ssh in OpenSSH before 10.6, a $ or \ character can occur in a command-line username, leading... 8d
  • CVE-2026-106587 Type Confusion in Openbsd Openssh 9d
  • CVE-2026-106588 In sshd in OpenSSH through 10.6, use of the macOS 27 (or later) SDK has the side effect… 9d
  • CVE-2026-106589 In sshd in OpenSSH through 10.6, in certain environments such as QNX 6 and SCO… 9d
  • CVE-2026-106582 In sshd and ssh in OpenSSH before 10.6, an LZ77 dictionary coder can be used even though… 9d
  • CVE-2026-106555 Incorrect Resource Transfer Between Spheres in Openbsd Openssh 9d

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

  • No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
  • No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
  • No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2023-51385 is "In ssh in OpenSSH before 9.6, OS command injection might occur if a user name or host name has...", rated Medium. It affects Debian Linux (Debian); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 6.5 describes technical severity. EPSS 19.75% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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