// For flags

CVE-2023-34966

Samba: infinite loop in mdssvc rpc service for spotlight

Severity Score

7.5
*CVSS v3.1

Exploit Likelihood

23.8%
*EPSS

Affected Versions

9
*CPE

Public Exploits

0
*Multiple Sources

Exploited in Wild

-
*KEV

Decision

-
*SSVC
Descriptions

An infinite loop vulnerability was found in Samba's mdssvc RPC service for Spotlight. When parsing Spotlight mdssvc RPC packets sent by the client, the core unmarshalling function sl_unpack_loop() did not validate a field in the network packet that contains the count of elements in an array-like structure. By passing 0 as the count value, the attacked function will run in an endless loop consuming 100% CPU. This flaw allows an attacker to issue a malformed RPC request, triggering an infinite loop, resulting in a denial of service condition.

This vulnerability allows remote attackers to disclose sensitive information on affected installations of Samba. Authentication is not required to exploit this vulnerability.
The specific flaw exists within the parsing of Spotlight RPC arguments. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of user-supplied data, which can result in a type confusion condition. An attacker can leverage this in conjunction with other vulnerabilities to execute arbitrary code in the context of the service account.

Several vulnerabilities have been discovered in Samba, which could result in information disclosure, denial of service or insufficient enforcement of security-relevant config directives.

*Credits: Florent Saudel, Arnaud Gatignol (@thalium_team)
CVSS Scores
Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High
Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
High
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
Low
Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Complete
* Common Vulnerability Scoring System
SSVC
  • Decision:-
Exploitation
-
Automatable
-
Tech. Impact
-
* Organization's Worst-case Scenario
Timeline
  • 2023-06-07 CVE Reserved
  • 2023-07-20 CVE Published
  • 2024-11-22 CVE Updated
  • 2025-03-30 EPSS Updated
  • ---------- Exploited in Wild
  • ---------- KEV Due Date
  • ---------- First Exploit
CWE
  • CWE-835: Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition ('Infinite Loop')
CAPEC
Affected Vendors, Products, and Versions (9)