# Samba Version Weakness Detection

> Identifies outdated or misconfigured Samba versions via banner grabbing and CVE mapping to uncover exploitable SMB vulnerabilities.

- **URL:** https://hackindex.io/services/smb/vulnerability-discovery/samba-version-weakness-detection
- **Path:** SMB > Vulnerability Discovery
- **Up:** [Vulnerability Discovery](https://hackindex.io/services/smb/vulnerability-discovery.md)
- **Published:** 2026-03-07
- **Updated:** 2026-08-11

When the target is Samba rather than Windows, version and build details matter more because old Samba releases can keep weak defaults, legacy protocol support, and older remote flaws in scope. Your current SMB vulnerability pages already cover broad known-vuln scanning, SMBv1, and signing, so this page is for deciding when a Samba host belongs in that legacy path at all.

- **Version fingerprinting** uses nmap smb-os-discovery and nxc to identify the exact Samba release.
- **Protocol and signing posture** checks SMBv1 support and signing enforcement with nmap NSE scripts.
- **Legacy path assessment** combines Samba version, SMBv1 presence, and weak signing to determine exploitability.
- **Misconfiguration overlap** checks for anonymous shares, guest access, or writable paths that compound the risk.

Start by fingerprinting the service.

## Samba Version Fingerprinting

```bash
nmap -Pn -p 139,445 -sV --script smb-os-discovery $TARGET_IP
nxc smb $TARGET_IP
```

Then pull the protocol and signing posture.

```bash
nmap -Pn -p 445 --script smb-protocols,smb-security-mode,smb2-security-mode $TARGET_IP
```

You are looking for combinations that keep older attack paths open, especially Samba plus SMBv1 plus weak signing behavior. That mix is more important than the banner alone. Nmap’s SMB security scripts are specifically meant to surface dialect support and signing configuration across SMB versions.

If the version string is specific enough, keep the host in the legacy or CVE review path. Do not guess from a vague Samba family string alone. If the target only leaks a generic Samba banner, keep the finding at weak protocol or weak signing unless you have stronger version evidence.

If an old Samba build also exposes anonymous shares, guest access, or writable paths, the service becomes much more valuable because the misconfiguration gives you immediate access even before any version-specific vulnerability matters.

## References

- [smb-os-discovery NSE Script](https://nmap.org/nsedoc/scripts/smb-os-discovery.html) - SMB host and service fingerprinting
- [smb-protocols NSE Script](https://nmap.org/nsedoc/scripts/smb-protocols.html) - SMB dialect support
- [smb-security-mode NSE Script](https://nmap.org/nsedoc/scripts/smb-security-mode.html) - SMBv1 security mode
- [smb2-security-mode NSE Script](https://nmap.org/nsedoc/scripts/smb2-security-mode.html) - SMBv2 and SMBv3 signing state