CVE-2023-28140

Local privilege escalation via uninstall DLL hijacking

Published Apr 18, 2023 · Updated Feb 26, 2025

DLL hijacking in Qualys Cloud Agent for Windows before 4.5.3.1 allows local users to execute code with elevated privileges. During uninstallation, an elevated process loads an attacker-supplied DLL instead of its intended dependency because the search path is uncontrolled. Exploitation requires prior endpoint access, user interaction, and the brief uninstall window; successful code runs with the uninstaller's privileges.

CVSS severity7.0
High
EPSS probability0.22%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

DLL hijacking in Qualys Cloud Agent for Windows before 4.5.3.1 allows local users to execute code with elevated privileges. During uninstallation, an elevated process loads an attacker-supplied DLL instead of its intended dependency because the search path is uncontrolled. Exploitation requires prior endpoint access, user interaction, and the brief uninstall window; successful code runs with the uninstaller's privileges.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-28140
Published
Apr 18, 2023
Updated
Feb 26, 2025
Vendor
Qualys
Product
Qualys Cloud Agent
Classifications
CWE-427, T1574.001
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Apr 18, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Feb 26, 2025Record 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.

  1. Affected versionversion=3.1.3.34 <4.5.3.1

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Qualys · Qualys Cloud Agentversion=3.1.3.34 <4.5.3.1

Published CVSS scores

6.7QualysCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
7.0NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-427Uncontrolled Search Path Element
T1574.001DLL Search Order Hijacking

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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