Planned Fix

CVE-2023-32046

Local Privilege Escalation in Microsoft Windows

Summary

Microsoft Windows MSHTML Platform contains a privilege escalation flaw that was actively exploited in the wild. An attacker can trigger the vulnerable MSHTML code path by getting a victim to open a specially crafted file from email or browse a malicious website. Successful exploitation lets the attacker gain the rights of the user running the affected application.

Why Planned Fix?

4/6

No authentication required

Internal deployment

User interaction needed

Exploitable in default configuration

Active exploitation in the wild

High impact vulnerability

Exploitation Details

Type

LPE (Local Privilege Escalation)

Is exploitable with default configuration?

Yes

Is authentication needed?

PoC / Exploit

Impact

Gain the privileges of the user who opens the crafted file.

Privilege Escalation

Exploitation Requirements

None — vulnerable in default configuration

Exploitation Process

An attacker delivers a specially crafted file or lures the victim to a malicious website that invokes the MSHTML rendering path on Windows. When the victim opens the file or visits the page, the vulnerable component processes the content and the attacker gains the rights of the user running the affected application. The attack requires user interaction and has been observed in active exploitation.

Detection Resources

Manual Detection

Script Detection

Scanner Detection

Tenable Nessus

Affected Software

Vendor:Microsoft

Product	Affected Versions
Microsoft Windows	Windows 10 1507, 1607, 1809, 21H2, and 22H2; Windows 11 21H2 and 22H2; Windows Server 2008 SP2; Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1; Windows Server 2012; Windows Server 2012 R2; Windows Server 2016; Windows Server 2019; Windows Server 2022

Description

Microsoft Windows is a desktop and server operating system used to run end-user workstations, servers, and built-in platform components such as the MSHTML rendering engine.

Deployment:Typically internal

Protocol:—

Ports:—

Affected ComponentMSHTML Platform privilege handling in Windows when rendering HTML content from files or websites.

MSHTML Platform privilege handling in Windows when rendering HTML content from files or websites.

Enterprise Usage

Very Low

Low

Medium

High

Very High

Vendor Size:Big

Vendor Notifications

https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2023-32046 https://msrc.microsoft.com/blog/2023/07/202307-security-update/

Remediation

Workaround

Not available

Patch

Not available

Update

Apply the Microsoft July 2023 Windows security updates for affected releases.

msrc.microsoft.com

Threat Intelligence

EPSS Score42.7%

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days

EPSS Percentile98%

Worse than 98% of all CVEs

Last updated: Loading...

CISA KEV

Listed

Active Exploitation

Active

cisa.gov

Threat Actors

No known threat actors

Detection Rules

No detection rules available

NVD Data

Published: Loading...Modified: Loading...

Description Summary

Windows MSHTML Platform Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

CVSS Base Score

7.8

High

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

Attack Vector (AV)

Physical

Local

Adjacent

Network

Attack Complexity (AC)

High

Low

Privileges Required (PR)

High

Low

None

User Interaction (UI)

Required

None

Scope (S)

Unchanged

Changed

Confidentiality (C)

None

Low

High

Integrity (I)

None

Low

High

Availability (A)

None

Low

High

CWE:—

NVD:CVE-2023-32046

Version From:—

Version Upto:10.0.10240.20048, 10.0.14393.6085, 10.0.17763.4645, 10.0.19041.3208, 10.0.19045.3208, 10.0.22000.2176, 10.0.22621.1992

Affected Software (CPE) (14)

•cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_1507:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
•cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_1607:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
•cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_1809:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
•cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_21h2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
•cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_22h2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
•cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_11_21h2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
•cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_11_22h2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
•cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2008:-:sp2:*:*:*:*:*:*
•cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2008:r2:sp1:*:*:*:*:x64:*
•cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2012:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
•cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2012:r2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
•cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2016:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
•cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2019:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
•cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2022:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

Sources

Source	Article
msrc.microsoft.com	CVE-2023-32046 security update guide
nvd.nist.gov	CVE-2023-32046 Detail
www.cisa.gov	CISA adds five known vulnerabilities to catalog
www.hhs.gov	HC3 Monthly Cybersecurity Vulnerability Bulletin
msrc.microsoft.com	July 2023 security update
www.bleepingcomputer.com	Microsoft July 2023 Patch Tuesday warns of 6 zero-days, 132 flaws
www.tenable.com	CVE-2023-32046

Priority History

Planned FixLoading...

Initial analysis