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CVE-2026-3238 Red Hat CVE debrief

CVE-2026-3238 is a HIGH severity vulnerability in Samba's WINS server component. An unauthenticated remote attacker can trigger a NULL pointer dereference and crash the WINS service using specially crafted UDP packets. The vulnerability has a CVSS score of 7.5 and was published on [cvePublishedAt](https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-3238).

Vendor
Red Hat
Product
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
CVSS
HIGH 7.5
CISA KEV
Not listed in stored evidence
Original CVE published
2026-06-08
Original CVE updated
2026-09-01
Advisory published
2026-06-08
Advisory updated
2026-09-01

Who should care

Administrators of Samba installations, particularly those running as an Active Directory Domain Controller, should be aware of this vulnerability and take steps to mitigate it.

Technical summary

The WINS protocol handlers for certain request types did not properly validate incoming packets, allowing an unauthenticated remote attacker to trigger a NULL pointer dereference and crash the WINS service.

Defensive priority

HIGH

Recommended defensive actions

  • Apply patches or updates from the Samba project or relevant vendors, such as Red Hat, as soon as possible.
  • Review and update network configurations to limit exposure to untrusted UDP traffic.
  • Monitor Samba WINS server logs for suspicious activity.

Evidence notes

The vendor is listed as Unknown Vendor, but evidence suggests a potential connection to Red Hat.

Sources and references

Verified primary and authoritative sources

  • CVE-2026-3238 CVE Program record

    Publisher, destination, and source semantics verified

    URL: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-3238

    CVE Program - Official CVE Program record with source-provided CVE metadata.

  • CVE-2026-3238 NVD vulnerability detail

    Publisher, destination, and source semantics verified

    URL: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-3238

    NIST National Vulnerability Database - Official NIST NVD detail page and source-specific vulnerability assessment.

Supplemental references

Methodology and review provenance

AI-assisted synthesis based on stored public vulnerability evidence. System validation, approval state, and publication status do not by themselves establish human review of this revision. PatchSiren helps prioritize defensive review and does not prove exposure or remediation on any system.