CVE-2023-38994Public exploit

Privilege escalation via process-list password exposure

Published Oct 31, 2023 · Updated Apr 15, 2025

Credential exposure in Univention Corporate Server 5.0-5 allows local users with SSH access to obtain the machine account password. The check_univention_joinstatus script passes machine credentials to ldapsearch as command-line arguments, exposing the plaintext password in the process list. Regular users lack SSH access by default, but a local SSH user who can inspect process arguments can reuse the credential for privileged LDAP access and follow-on attacks.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability0.35%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Credential exposure in Univention Corporate Server 5.0-5 allows local users with SSH access to obtain the machine account password. The check_univention_joinstatus script passes machine credentials to ldapsearch as command-line arguments, exposing the plaintext password in the process list. Regular users lack SSH access by default, but a local SSH user who can inspect process arguments can reuse the credential for privileged LDAP access and follow-on attacks.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-38994
Published
Oct 31, 2023
Updated
Apr 15, 2025
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
CWE-668, CWE-214, T1552
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Oct 31, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Apr 15, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Affected buildAffected product and version details are unavailable.

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

7.9MITRECVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N
7.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-668Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere
CWE-214Invocation of Process Using Visible Sensitive Information
T1552Unsecured Credentials

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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