CVE-2023-2939

Local privilege escalation via installer symlink

Published May 30, 2023 · Updated May 5, 2025

Link-following in Google Chrome's Installer before 114.0.5735.90 allows local users to gain elevated privileges on Windows via a crafted symlink. The Installer insufficiently validates the link before following it, allowing attacker-controlled link resolution during privileged installation activity. Exploitation requires local access and user interaction; public records do not disclose the exact file path or privileged operation.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability0.45%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Link-following in Google Chrome's Installer before 114.0.5735.90 allows local users to gain elevated privileges on Windows via a crafted symlink. The Installer insufficiently validates the link before following it, allowing attacker-controlled link resolution during privileged installation activity. Exploitation requires local access and user interaction; public records do not disclose the exact file path or privileged operation.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-2939
Published
May 30, 2023
Updated
May 5, 2025
Vendor
Google Cloud
Product
Google Chrome
Classifications
CWE-59, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. May 30, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. May 5, 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=114.0.5735.90 <114.0.5735.90

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Google Cloud · Google Chromeversion=114.0.5735.90 <114.0.5735.90

Published CVSS scores

7.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/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 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-59Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')
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

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Your stack

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