Unauthenticated privilege escalation
Published Aug 8, 2023 · Updated Aug 10, 2026
Privilege escalation in affected Microsoft Exchange Server 2016 and 2019 builds allows remote attackers to gain elevated privileges via network requests. Microsoft maps the issue to excessive authentication attempts but has not disclosed the affected authentication locus or erroneous operation. No credentials or user interaction are required, but the resulting privilege level and available administrative actions remain undisclosed.
Summary
What happened
Privilege escalation in affected Microsoft Exchange Server 2016 and 2019 builds allows remote attackers to gain elevated privileges via network requests. Microsoft maps the issue to excessive authentication attempts but has not disclosed the affected authentication locus or erroneous operation. No credentials or user interaction are required, but the resulting privilege level and available administrative actions remain undisclosed.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-21709
- Published
- Aug 8, 2023
- Updated
- Aug 10, 2026
- Vendor
- Microsoft
- Product
- Microsoft Exchange Server 2019 Cumulative Update 12
- Classifications
- CWE-307
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 8, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 10, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=15.02.0 <15.02.1118.037
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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