CVE-2023-28143

Root command execution via installer permission race

Published Apr 18, 2023 · Updated Feb 5, 2025

Race condition in Qualys Cloud Agent for macOS before 3.7 allows local users to execute commands as root during PKG installation. During package extraction and copying, incorrect permissions temporarily leave installation files writable to local users before privileged execution. Exploitation requires existing endpoint access, macOS 10.15 or older, and the brief installation or uninstallation window.

CVSS severity6.7
Medium
EPSS probability0.17%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

Summary

What happened

Race condition in Qualys Cloud Agent for macOS before 3.7 allows local users to execute commands as root during PKG installation. During package extraction and copying, incorrect permissions temporarily leave installation files writable to local users before privileged execution. Exploitation requires existing endpoint access, macOS 10.15 or older, and the brief installation or uninstallation window.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-28143
Published
Apr 18, 2023
Updated
Feb 5, 2025
Vendor
Qualys
Product
Qualys Cloud Agent
Classifications
CWE-362, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Apr 18, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Feb 5, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=2.5.1-75 <3.7

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Qualys · Qualys Cloud Agentversion=2.5.1-75 <3.7

Published CVSS scores

6.7QualysCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/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-362Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition')
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

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

See the directory against your own environment.

Your stack

Check the software in your environment

Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.

Book a demo