Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-1314

Cloudflared ≤ 2023.3.1

Published
21 March 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0026 18th percentile
Risk Priority 52 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-1314 is a high-severity Link Following (CWE-59) vulnerability in Cloudflare Cloudflared. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Path Interception (T1034); ranked at the 18th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A vulnerability has been discovered in cloudflared's installer (<= 2023.3.0) for Windows 32-bits devices that allows a local attacker with no administrative permissions to escalate their privileges on the affected device. This vulnerability exists because the MSI installer used by…

more

cloudflared relied on a world-writable directory. An attacker with local access to the device (without Administrator rights) can use symbolic links to trick the MSI installer into deleting files in locations that the attacker would otherwise have no access to. By creating a symlink from the world-writable directory to the target file, the attacker can manipulate the MSI installer's repair functionality to delete the target file during the repair process. Exploitation of this vulnerability could allow an attacker to delete important system files or replace them with malicious files, potentially leading to the affected device being compromised. The cloudflared client itself is not affected by this vulnerability, only the installer for 32-bit Windows devices.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1034 Path Interception Persistence
**This technique has been deprecated.
T1547.009 Shortcut Modification Persistence
Adversaries may create or modify shortcuts that can execute a program during system boot or user login.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-0652Same vendor: Cloudflare
CVE-2023-1412Same vendor: Cloudflare
CVE-2025-54798Shared CWE-59
CVE-2023-37206Shared CWE-59
CVE-2025-59241Shared CWE-59
CVE-2026-6891Shared CWE-59
CVE-2023-36723Shared CWE-59
CVE-2026-54056Shared CWE-59
CVE-2025-69429Shared CWE-59
CVE-2023-27529Shared CWE-59

Affected Assets

cloudflare
cloudflared
≤ 2023.3.1

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V15.4.2

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require code to validate paths and avoid unsafe link following.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Security testing can detect link-following flaws before release.

prevents

Secure SDLC practices can mandate link-resolution checks and canonicalization before file access.

prevents

Application security requirements can explicitly require safe handling of symbolic links and path traversal.

prevents

Secure architecture principles include input validation and safe file-access design patterns.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly address canonicalization and symlink attacks during implementation.

mitigates

Access-control rules can limit which files are reachable, reducing exposure to malicious links.

References