CVE-2023-5616Public exploit

Unintended SSH exposure via service-only status checks

Published Apr 15, 2025 · Updated Apr 15, 2025

Authentication-state error in Canonical GNOME Control Center allows remote attackers to reach SSH after Remote Login appears disabled. The cc-remote-login.c status path checks ssh.service but ignores an enabled and active ssh.socket, which can reactivate sshd on connection. The condition is default on Ubuntu 22.10 and later; earlier releases require an administrator to configure socket activation, and SSH authentication remains required.

CVSS severity4.9
Medium
EPSS probability0.23%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Authentication-state error in Canonical GNOME Control Center allows remote attackers to reach SSH after Remote Login appears disabled. The cc-remote-login.c status path checks ssh.service but ignores an enabled and active ssh.socket, which can reactivate sshd on connection. The condition is default on Ubuntu 22.10 and later; earlier releases require an administrator to configure socket activation, and SSH authentication remains required.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-5616
Published
Apr 15, 2025
Updated
Apr 15, 2025
Vendor
Canonical
Product
GNOME Control Center
Classifications
CWE-290, T1021.004
Attack vector
local
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Apr 15, 2025CVE 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?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=1:3 <1:3.36.5-0ubuntu4.1
  2. Affected versionversion=1:41 <1:41.7-0ubuntu0.22.04.8
  3. Affected versionversion=1:44 <1:44.0-1ubuntu6.1
  4. Affected versionversion=1:45 <1:45.0-1ubuntu3.1

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Canonical · GNOME Control Centerversion=1:3 <1:3.36.5-0ubuntu4.1; version=1:41 <1:41.7-0ubuntu0.22.04.8; version=1:44 <1:44.0-1ubuntu6.1; version=1:45 <1:45.0-1ubuntu3.1

Published CVSS scores

4.9CISA-ADPCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L

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 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-290Authentication Bypass by Spoofing
T1021.004Remote Services: SSH

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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