dbcve.org
SambaApplication

CVE-2022-45141

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-03-06
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.15.13 / 4.16.8 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Since the Windows Kerberos RC4-HMAC Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability was disclosed by Microsoft on Nov 8 2022 and per RFC8429 it is assumed that rc4-hmac is weak, Vulnerable Samba Active Directory DCs will issue rc4-hmac encrypted tickets despite the target server supporting better encryption (eg aes256-cts-hmac-sha1-96).

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Samba Active Directory Domain Controllers issue weak RC4-HMAC encrypted Kerberos tickets even when target servers support stronger encryption like AES256-CTS-HMAC-SHA1-96. Since RC4-HMAC is considered weak per RFC8429 (following Microsoft's disclosure of the Kerberos RC4-HMAC elevation of privilege vulnerability in November 2022), attackers can potentially crack these tickets to gain elevated privileges.

MitigationDisable RC4-HMAC encryption types in Samba AD configuration and enforce AES256-CTS-HMAC-SHA1-96 or stronger encryption for all Kerberos communications.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
SambaApplication
Affected:< 4.15.13>= 4.16.0, < 4.16.8

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Confirm Samba AD DC role
    Run 'samba-tool domain show' or check smb.conf for 'server role = active directory domain controller'
    Affected if System is NOT an Active Directory Domain Controller - the vulnerability only affects Samba AD DCs
  2. Check installed Samba version
    Run 'samba -V' or 'smbd -V' to get the version number
    Affected if Version is < 4.15.13 OR >= 4.16.0 and < 4.16.8 - these ranges are vulnerable
  3. Verify RC4-HMAC is still enabled
    Run 'samba-tool domain passwordsettings show' and check for 'NTLMv2 only' or review smb.conf for 'ntlm auth = yes' or 'kerberos encryption types' settings
    Affected if RC4-HMAC (ntlm auth) is enabled or not explicitly restricted - vulnerable tickets may be issued
  4. Check actual Kerberos ticket encryption
    Use 'kinit' to obtain a ticket, then run 'klist -e' to inspect the encryption type of issued tickets from the DC
    Affected if Tickets show 'arcfour-hmac' or 'RC4-HMAC' encryption type - indicating weak tickets are being issued

System is affected if it is a Samba AD DC running a vulnerable version AND RC4-HMAC encryption is enabled or allowed in the configuration, causing weak Kerberos tickets to be issued.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 4.15.13 / 4.16.8 or later
Fixed in 4.15.134.16.8
Interim mitigation

Disable RC4-HMAC encryption types in Samba AD configuration and enforce AES256-CTS-HMAC-SHA1-96 or stronger encryption for all Kerberos communications.

Recommended fix High confidence

Samba 4.16.8 or later (or 4.15.13+ if staying on 4.15.x branch)

  1. 1. Identify the current Samba version by running: smbd --version
  2. 2. Backup your Samba configuration files (smb.conf) and Active Directory database
  3. 3. Stop all Samba services (smbd, nmbd, winbindd) before upgrading
  4. 4. Upgrade Samba to version 4.16.8 or later (or 4.15.13 or later for the 4.15.x branch)
  5. 5. Verify the new Samba version is installed: smbd --version
  6. 6. Review and update smb.conf if needed for any configuration changes in the new version
  7. 7. Start Samba services and verify they start without errors
  8. 8. Test Kerberos authentication to ensure tickets are using strong encryption (aes256-cts-hmac-sha1-96)
Caveat Major version upgrades may introduce configuration or schema changes; test thoroughly in non-production environment first

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Samba Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation5.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
13.0 hours of engineering $2,310
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,696.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-45141 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-45141 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data