Local privilege escalation via unquoted service path
Published Sep 12, 2023 · Updated Oct 30, 2025
Privilege escalation in Microsoft Visual Studio 2022 17.7.0 through 17.7.3 allows local users to execute code with elevated privileges. VSInstallerElevationService launches an executable through an unquoted path, allowing a malicious executable earlier along the path to hijack the process. A local low-privileged user must place or run the malicious executable, after which the elevation service executes attacker-controlled code with its elevated rights.
Summary
What happened
Privilege escalation in Microsoft Visual Studio 2022 17.7.0 through 17.7.3 allows local users to execute code with elevated privileges. VSInstallerElevationService launches an executable through an unquoted path, allowing a malicious executable earlier along the path to hijack the process. A local low-privileged user must place or run the malicious executable, after which the elevation service executes attacker-controlled code with its elevated rights.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-36758
- Published
- Sep 12, 2023
- Updated
- Oct 30, 2025
- Vendor
- Microsoft
- Product
- Microsoft Visual Studio 2022 version 17.7
- Classifications
- CWE-59, T1574.009
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 12, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Oct 30, 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.
- Affected versionversion=17.7.0 <17.7.4
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
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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