CVE-2023-28531

ssh-add in OpenSSH before 9.3 adds smartcard keys to ssh-agent without the intended per-hop destination constraints. The earliest affected version is 8.9.

Published: 2023-03-17 Last update: 2026-05-28 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-28531 is rated Moderate Risk (51.7/100): CVSS Critical severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.16%). Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-28531

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-05-29 0.33% 0.16% -0.17%
2 2026-05-27 0.36% 0.33% -0.03%
3 2026-03-18 — 0.36% —

Full EPSS history (36 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-28531

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.8 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-28531

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2023-28531

GHSA-j839-ff8c-f62x · Severity: critical — ssh-add in OpenSSH before 9.3 adds smartcard keys to ssh-agent without the intended per-hop...

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-28531

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2023-28531: 1 source package rows (openssh); 40 state rows across 6 repos (3.17-main, 3.19-main, 3.20-main, 3.21-main, 3.22-main, edge-main); fixed 4, open 36. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2023-28531
debian unimportant CVE-2023-28531 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (openssh), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2023-28531
gentoo high CVE-2023-28531: 1 GLSA(s) (202307-01), 1 atom(s) (net-misc/openssh); latest impact high. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2023-28531
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-28531
ubuntu low CVE-2023-28531 low priority: Ubuntu including 2 source packages (openssh, openssh-ssh1), 18 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 11, released 3, DNE 2, ignored 2. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-28531

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-28531

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
openbsd openssh >= 8.9, < 9.3 cpe:2.3:a:openbsd:openssh:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp brocade_fabric_operating_system — cpe:2.3:o:netapp:brocade_fabric_operating_system:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp hci_bootstrap_os — cpe:2.3:o:netapp:hci_bootstrap_os:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
netapp solidfire_element_os — cpe:2.3:o:netapp:solidfire_element_os:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-28531

cvelogic Threat Intelligence