CVE-2023-21540
Published: 10 January 2023
Summary
CVE-2023-21540 is a medium-severity Improper Input Validation (CWE-20) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 10 1809. Its CVSS base score is 5.5 (Medium).
Operationally, ranked in the top 9.3% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Deeper analysis
CVE-2023-21540 is a Windows Cryptographic Information Disclosure Vulnerability affecting the Windows cryptographic subsystem. It carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 5.5 with the vector AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N and is associated with CWE-20. The flaw permits unauthorized exposure of sensitive cryptographic material on affected Windows systems.
An authenticated local attacker with low privileges can exploit the issue without user interaction to read high-value cryptographic information from the target system. The attack requires local access and does not impact integrity or availability.
Microsoft’s advisory at msrc.microsoft.com directs administrators to apply the security updates released for the vulnerability on 10 January 2023. The EPSS score has remained low and stable, with a current value of 0.0582 and a peak of 0.0592, indicating limited observed exploitation interest after disclosure.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-25707
Vulnerability details
Windows Cryptographic Information Disclosure Vulnerability
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Likely Mitigating Controls AI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Security testing and developer training directly verify and enforce proper input validation, reducing exploitability of injection and malformed-data weaknesses.
Security testing and evaluation at multiple SDLC stages directly detects missing or flawed input validation, with the required remediation process ensuring fixes are applied.
Directly implements checks on information inputs to reject invalid data before processing.
Spam protection mechanisms perform filtering and detection on inbound/outbound messages, directly compensating for missing or weak input validation of unsolicited content.