ZDF
Sign inSign up

Vulnerabilities

Vulnerability · CVE-2023-2868

Barracuda Networks ESG Appliance Improper Input Validation Vulnerability

Published May 18, 2023 · catalog updated Jun 16, 2026 · Barracuda Networks Email Security Gateway (ESG) Appliance

Patch now

CVE-2023-2868 is in the CISA known-exploited catalog, due Jun 16, 2023. Confirm Barracuda Networks Email Security Gateway (ESG) Appliance against the vendor advisory and apply that fix. The CVSS score does not change the priority.

Gaps on this record

  • No version range is stored. A customer cannot check an installed version against this record.
Severity
Critical9.8
Known exploitation
CISA KEV and VulnCheck KEV
EPSS
87.69%
Remediation
Remediation guidance
Affected products
cpe barracuda/email security gateway 300 firmware · cpe barracuda/email security gateway 400 firmware · cpe barracuda/email security gateway 600 firmware · cpe barracuda/email security gateway 800 firmware · cpe barracuda/email security gateway 900 firmware · vendor Barracuda Networks Email Security Gateway (ESG) Appliance

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.

Are you affected?

Enter the version you run. The result uses only the ranges stored on this record.

The check returns affected, not affected, or incomplete. It does not guess a version that is missing from the record.

  • cpe barracuda/email security gateway 300 firmwareversion unspecified
  • cpe barracuda/email security gateway 400 firmwareversion unspecified
  • cpe barracuda/email security gateway 600 firmwareversion unspecified
  • cpe barracuda/email security gateway 800 firmwareversion unspecified
  • cpe barracuda/email security gateway 900 firmwareversion unspecified
  • vendor Barracuda Networks Email Security Gateway (ESG) Applianceversion unspecified

How to fix CVE-2023-2868

What to do

Three questions, each answered from this record only. Confirm the vendor advisory before you patch.

Should you patch?

CVE-2023-2868 is in the CISA known-exploited catalog, due Jun 16, 2023. Confirm Barracuda Networks Email Security Gateway (ESG) Appliance against the vendor advisory and apply that fix. The CVSS score does not change the priority.

Which versions are affected?

Affected version ranges are not on this record. Apply updates per vendor instructions.

What should an analyst verify?

CWE-20: Improper Input Validation; CWE-77: Command Injection. EPSS 87.69%. The CISA KEV listing is the exploitation evidence. A public exploit reference is linked in Sources. That is not the same as confirmed exploitation. Use the source links for the original advisory.

Code

The project this record applies to. Exploit listings stay in References.

No public source repository is identified for this product.

Timeline

Detection, updates, and resolution for this record.

  1. May 24, 2023 · Catalog

    Detected

    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

  2. May 26, 2023 · CISA KEV

    Known exploited

    Apply updates per vendor instructions.

  3. Jun 16, 2023 · CISA KEV

    Remediation due

    Apply updates per vendor instructions.

  4. Jun 16, 2026 · Catalog

    Updated

    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

Sources

  • CISA KEVConfirmed exploitationCVE-2023-2868

    Barracuda Email Security Gateway (ESG) appliance contains an improper input validation vulnerability of a user-supplied .tar file, leading to remote command injection.

    cisa.gov
  • CVE.orgVulnerability recordCVE-2023-2868

    Official CVE identifier

    cve.org
  • FIRST EPSSExploitation probabilityCVE-2023-2868

    30-day exploitation probability 87.7%

    first.org
  • Metasploit ModulesPublic exploit moduleexploit_linux/smtp/barracuda_esg_tarfile_rce

    Public module reference (excellent). Module source is not copied into this catalog.

    rapid7.com
  • NIST NVDVulnerability recordCVE-2023-2868

    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).

    nvd.nist.gov
  • VulnCheck KEVConfirmed exploitationCVE-2023-2868

    Barracuda Email Security Gateway (ESG) appliance contains an improper input validation vulnerability of a user-supplied .tar file, leading to remote command injection.

    vulncheck.com

References

Freshness

Last verified in this catalog Oct 17, 2026. Significant claims (KEV, EPSS, CVSS, affected ranges) come from the source rows above — open the original publisher for the authoritative advisory.