CVE-2023-36628Network attack vector

Authenticated escalation to root access

Published Oct 2, 2023 · Updated Sep 23, 2024

Privilege escalation in Pure Storage Purity//FA allows remote authenticated users with VMware administrator access to gain root access. The affected VMware vSphere VASA Service grants root privileges through an operation that Pure Storage has not publicly described. Exploitation requires a vSphere or ESXi administrator account with VASA access to the FlashArray and yields full root control of the array.

CVSS severity8.8
High
EPSS probability0.46%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Privilege escalation in Pure Storage Purity//FA allows remote authenticated users with VMware administrator access to gain root access. The affected VMware vSphere VASA Service grants root privileges through an operation that Pure Storage has not publicly described. Exploitation requires a vSphere or ESXi administrator account with VASA access to the FlashArray and yields full root control of the array.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-36628
Published
Oct 2, 2023
Updated
Sep 23, 2024
Vendor
Pure Storage
Product
Purity//FA
Classifications
CWE-269, T1068
Attack vector
network
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Oct 2, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 23, 2024Record 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=6.1.*
  2. Affected versionversion=6.2.*
  3. Affected versionversion=6.3.0 <=6.3.11
  4. Affected versionversion=6.4.0 <=6.4.5

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Pure Storage · Purity//FAversion=6.1.*; version=6.2.*; version=6.3.0 <=6.3.11; version=6.4.0 <=6.4.5

Published CVSS scores

8.8Pure StorageCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/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)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-269Improper Privilege Management
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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