CVE-2023-40303
GNU inetutils through 2.4 may allow privilege escalation because of unchecked return values of...
GNU inetutils before 2.5 may allow privilege escalation because of unchecked return values of set*id() family functions in ftpd, rcp, rlogin, rsh, rshd, and uucpd. This is, for example, relevant if the setuid system call fails when a process is trying to drop privileges before letting an ordinary user control the activities of the process.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- Low
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
NVD Score used
7.8
GNU inetutils before 2.5 may allow privilege escalation because of unchecked return values of set*id() family functions in ftpd, rcp, rlogin, rsh, rshd, and uucpd. This is, for example, relevant if the setuid system call fails when a process is trying to drop privileges before letting an ordinary user control the activities of the process.
- Record
CVE-2023-40303- CVSS 3.1
- 7.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-252
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List No score
GNU inetutils before 2.5 may allow privilege escalation because of unchecked return values of set*id() family functions in ftpd, rcp, rlogin, rsh, rshd, and uucpd. This is, for example, relevant if the setuid system call fails when a process is trying to drop privileges before letting an ordinary user control the activities of the process.
- Record
CVE-2023-40303- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2023-44895 No score
GNU inetutils before 2.5 may allow privilege escalation because of unchecked return values of set*id() family functions in ftpd, rcp, rlogin, rsh, rshd, and uucpd. This is, for example, relevant if the setuid system call fails when a process is trying to drop privileges before letting an ordinary user control the activities of the process.
- Record
EUVD-2023-44895- Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-w2mw-45j6-m2cq
7.8
GNU inetutils through 2.4 may allow privilege escalation because of unchecked return values of...
GNU inetutils through 2.4 may allow privilege escalation because of unchecked return values of set*id() family functions in ftpd, rcp, rlogin, rsh, rshd, and uucpd. This is, for example, relevant if the setuid system call fails when a process is trying to drop privileges before letting an ordinary user control the activities of the process.
- Record
GHSA-w2mw-45j6-m2cq- CVSS 3.1
- 7.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-252
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2023-40303
7.8
GNU inetutils before 2.5 may allow privilege escalation because of unchecked return values of set*id() family functions in ftpd, rcp, rlogin, rsh, rshd, and uucpd. This is, for example, relevant if the setuid system call fails when a process is trying to drop privileges before letting an ordinary user control the activities of the process.
- Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2023-40303- CVSS 3.1
- 7.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2023-40303
7.8
GNU inetutils before 2.5 may allow privilege escalation because of unchecked return values of set*id() family functions in ftpd, rcp, rlogin, rsh, rshd, and uucpd. This is, for example, relevant if the setuid system call fails when a process is trying to drop privileges before letting an ordinary user control the activities of the process.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2023-40303- CVSS 3.1
- 7.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV No score
GNU inetutils before 2.5 may allow privilege escalation because of unchecked return values of set*id() family functions in ftpd, rcp, rlogin, rsh, rshd, and uucpd. This is, for example, relevant if the setuid system call fails when a process is trying to drop privileges before letting an ordinary user control the activities of the process.
- Record
CVE-2023-40303- Updated
- 2026-11-07
OSVUSN-6304-1 No score
inetutils vulnerabilities
It was discovered that telnetd in GNU Inetutils incorrectly handled certain inputs. An attacker could possibly use this issue to cause a crash. This issue only affected Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (CVE-2022-39028)
It was discovered that Inetutils incorrectly handled certain inputs. An attacker could possibly use this issue to expose sensitive information, or execute arbitrary code. (CVE-2023-40303)
- Record
USN-6304-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUSN-7781-1 No score
inetutils vulnerabilities
Matthew Hickey discovered that Inetutils did not correctly handle certain escape characters. An attacker could possibly use this issue to cause a denial of service. (CVE-2019-0053)
It was discovered that Inetutils did not correctly handle certain memory operations. An attacker could possibly use this issue to execute arbitrary code. This issue only affected Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. (CVE-2020-10188)
It was discovered that Inetutils did not correctly handle certain memory operations. An attacker could possibly use this issue to cause a denial of service. (CVE-2022-39028)
It was discovered that Inetutils did not check the return values of set*id functions. An attacker could possibly use this issue to escalate their privileges. (CVE-2023-40303)
- Record
USN-7781-1- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
inetutilsDebian:12 |
before 2:2.4-2+deb12u1, plus listed versions 2:2.4-2 |
2:2.4-2+deb12u1 |
inetutilsDebian:13 |
before 2:2.4-3 | 2:2.4-3 |
inetutilsDebian:14 |
before 2:2.4-3 | 2:2.4-3 |
inetutilsDebian:10 From an advisory covering 2 CVEs |
before 2:1.9.4-7+deb10u3, plus listed versions 2:1.9.4-72:1.9.4-7+deb10u12:1.9.4-7+deb10u2 |
2:1.9.4-7+deb10u3 |
inetutilsUbuntu:Pro:14.04:LTS |
before 2:1.9.2-1ubuntu0.1~esm2, plus listed versions 2:1.9.1.306-0a482-12:1.9.1.363-bbc1-12:1.9.2-12:1.9.2-1ubuntu0.1~esm1 |
2:1.9.2-1ubuntu0.1~esm2 |
inetutilsUbuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS |
before 2:1.9.4-1ubuntu0.1~esm3, plus listed versions 2:1.9.4-12:1.9.4-1build12:1.9.4-1ubuntu0.1~esm12:1.9.4-1ubuntu0.1~esm2 |
2:1.9.4-1ubuntu0.1~esm3 |
inetutilsUbuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS |
before 2:1.9.4-3ubuntu0.1+esm2, plus listed versions 2:1.9.4-2build12:1.9.4-32:1.9.4-3ubuntu0.12:1.9.4-3ubuntu0.1+esm1 |
2:1.9.4-3ubuntu0.1+esm2 |
inetutilsUbuntu:20.04:LTS |
before 2:1.9.4-11ubuntu0.2, plus listed versions 2:1.9.4-10build12:1.9.4-112:1.9.4-11ubuntu0.1 |
2:1.9.4-11ubuntu0.2 |
inetutilsUbuntu:22.04:LTS |
before 2:2.2-2ubuntu0.1, plus listed versions 2:2.0-12:2.2-2 |
2:2.2-2ubuntu0.1 |
inetutilsUbuntu:24.04:LTS |
before 2:2.4-3ubuntu1, plus listed versions 2:2.4-2ubuntu2 |
2:2.4-3ubuntu1 |
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| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
inetutilsUbuntu:20.04:LTS From an advisory covering 2 CVEs |
before 2:1.9.4-11ubuntu0.2, plus listed versions 2:1.9.4-10build12:1.9.4-112:1.9.4-11ubuntu0.1 |
2:1.9.4-11ubuntu0.2 |
inetutilsUbuntu:22.04:LTS From an advisory covering 2 CVEs |
before 2:2.2-2ubuntu0.1, plus listed versions 2:2.0-12:2.2-2 |
2:2.2-2ubuntu0.1 |
inetutilsUbuntu:Pro:14.04:LTS From an advisory covering 4 CVEs |
before 2:1.9.2-1ubuntu0.1~esm2, plus listed versions 2:1.9.1.306-0a482-12:1.9.1.363-bbc1-12:1.9.2-12:1.9.2-1ubuntu0.1~esm1 |
2:1.9.2-1ubuntu0.1~esm2 |
inetutilsUbuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS From an advisory covering 4 CVEs |
before 2:1.9.4-1ubuntu0.1~esm3, plus listed versions 2:1.9.4-12:1.9.4-1build12:1.9.4-1ubuntu0.1~esm12:1.9.4-1ubuntu0.1~esm2 |
2:1.9.4-1ubuntu0.1~esm3 |
inetutilsUbuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS From an advisory covering 4 CVEs |
before 2:1.9.4-3ubuntu0.1+esm2, plus listed versions 2:1.9.4-2build12:1.9.4-32:1.9.4-3ubuntu0.12:1.9.4-3ubuntu0.1+esm1 |
2:1.9.4-3ubuntu0.1+esm2 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| affected | OSV | |
| facts | OSV | |
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2023-40303 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.8) in Gnu Inetutils, published August 14, 2023. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.41%, the 35th percentile. Fixed in inetutils 2:2.4-2+deb12u1.
References
git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/inetutils.git/commit?id=e4e65c03f4c11292a3e40ef72ca3f194c8bffdd6
lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-inetutils/2023-07/msg00000.html
ftp.gnu.org/gnu/inetutils
lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2023/10/msg00013.html
openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2023/12/30/4
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-40303
Show 10 moreShow less
github.com/advisories/GHSA-w2mw-45j6-m2cq
github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2023/40xxx/CVE-2023-40303.json
security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-40303
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-40303
ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-6304-1
cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-40303
ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-7781-1
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-39028
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2019-0053
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2020-10188