CVE-2023-5616 — In Ubuntu, gnome-control-center did not properly reflect SSH remote login status

In Ubuntu, gnome-control-center did not properly reflect SSH remote login status when the system was configured to use systemd socket activation for openssh-server. This could unknowingly leave the local machine exposed to remote SSH access contrary to expectation of the user.

01What is this vulnerability?

In Ubuntu, gnome-control-center did not properly reflect SSH remote login status when the system was configured to use systemd socket activation for openssh-server. This could unknowingly leave the local machine exposed to remote SSH access contrary to expectation of the user.

02Affected products

Vendor	Product	Versions
Canonical Ltd.	Ubuntu's gnome	control-center — 1:45, 1:44, 1:41, 1:3

03Active exploitation status

Not currently listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. EPSS is the best forward-looking signal — see the EPSS row above.

04Recommended remediation

• Patch to a fixed version listed in the vendor advisory (see references below).
• Mitigate with WAF rules, network egress filters, or feature flags where the patch is not yet available.
• Hunt historical logs for exploitation indicators — see Detection signatures below.

05Technical details

For the full vendor write-up, exploit chains, and reference implementations, see the references list in section 09.

06Detection signatures

Ask SARA in chat to draft a starting detection for this CVE in your stack of choice.

07Related CVEs

No directly-cited follow-up CVEs in the KB record for this advisory. The references list in section 09 carries the vendor cross-references.

08Timeline

• Published: 2025-04-15T18:29:54.565Z
• Last modified: 2025-04-15T20:51:31.399Z

09References

• bugs.launchpad.net — https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-control-center/+bug/2039577
• ubuntu.com — https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-6554-1
• ubuntu.com — https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2023-5616