Is CVE-2023-2868 in the CISA KEV catalog?

Yes. CVE-2023-2868 is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list, added 2023-05-26.

What is the CVSS severity of CVE-2023-2868?

CVE-2023-2868 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.4 (CRITICAL).

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2023-2868?

CVE-2023-2868 has an EPSS score of 86.96% (100th percentile), estimating the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

How do I fix or mitigate CVE-2023-2868?

No published fix for CVE-2023-2868 has been found yet. It is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list; federal agencies must remediate by 2023-06-16. Apply the vendor's mitigations per CISA's guidance.

CVE & CISA-KEV Catalog

CVE-2023-2868

CRITICALCISA KEVEPSS 100th pctl

9.4

CVSS v3

NVD

Description

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.

CWE-20Improper Input Validation CWE-77Command Injection

How to fix

Actively exploited, no published fix found yet

CISA required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Federal remediation due: 2023-06-16

Mitigation guidance may be in the linked vendor advisories in the References section below.

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CVSS v3 Vector

Exploitability

Attack VectorNetwork

Attack ComplexityLow

Privileges RequiredNone

User InteractionNone

ScopeUnchanged

Impact

ConfidentialityHigh

IntegrityHigh

AvailabilityLow

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L

Exploit Intelligence

86.96%probability of exploitation in 30 days

100thpercentile

Very high risk: more likely to be exploited than 100% of all known CVEs.

Known Exploited Vulnerability (CISA KEV)

Barracuda Networks ESG Appliance Improper Input Validation Vulnerability

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

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Remediation due: 2023-06-16

References

Vendor Advisory2

Government Resource1

cisa.gov

Related Vulnerabilities

Other CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation) vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all

CVE	Severity	CVSS	EPSS	Exploited	Fix
CVE-2024-3400	Critical	10.0	100%	KEV + Ransom	-
CVE-2021-45105	Medium	5.9	100%	-	Fix
CVE-2021-44228	Critical	10.0	100%	KEV + Ransom	Fix
CVE-2021-21985	Critical	9.8	100%	KEV + Ransom	Fix
CVE-2018-7600	Critical	9.8	100%	KEV + Ransom	Fix
CVE-2020-3452	High	7.5	100%	KEV	Fix

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This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2025-10-24.