Local privilege escalation via improper link resolution
Published Aug 8, 2023 · Updated Aug 10, 2026
Link-following in Microsoft Defender Antivirus Antimalware Platform before 1.1.23060.3001 allows local users to gain elevated privileges. Microsoft identifies improper link resolution before file access but has not published the affected file operation, path, or function. Exploitation requires local low-privilege access and succeeds without user interaction, yielding elevated privileges on the Windows host.
Summary
What happened
Link-following in Microsoft Defender Antivirus Antimalware Platform before 1.1.23060.3001 allows local users to gain elevated privileges. Microsoft identifies improper link resolution before file access but has not published the affected file operation, path, or function. Exploitation requires local low-privilege access and succeeds without user interaction, yielding elevated privileges on the Windows host.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-38175
- Published
- Aug 8, 2023
- Updated
- Aug 10, 2026
- Vendor
- Microsoft
- Product
- Microsoft Defender Antivirus Antimalware Platform
- Classifications
- CWE-59, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 8, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 10, 2026Record 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.
- Affected versionversion=4.0.0.0 <1.1.23060.3001
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
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