Security Resilience

CVE-2023-21554

Microsoft Windows Server 2008 r2

High EPSS
Published
11 April 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.95 99.9th percentile
Risk Priority 97 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2023-21554 is a critical-severity Improper Input Validation (CWE-20) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows Server 2008. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, ranked in the top 0.1% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ) contains a remote code execution vulnerability tracked as CVE-2023-21554 and assigned a CVSS v3.1 score of 9.8. The flaw is rooted in improper input validation (CWE-20) within the MSMQ service and affects Microsoft Windows systems that have the Message Queuing feature enabled.

An unauthenticated attacker can send specially crafted network packets to an exposed MSMQ endpoint, resulting in arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the service account. Successful exploitation grants full confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact without requiring user interaction.

Microsoft has published remediation guidance and security updates for the vulnerability through its Security Response Center at the referenced URLs. Organizations should apply the vendor-supplied patches according to the instructions provided in those advisories.

The associated EPSS score currently stands at 0.9190 with a recorded peak of 0.9216, reflecting sustained high exploitation likelihood since disclosure.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ) Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

CWE(s)

Related Threats

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-28302Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1607
CVE-2023-21685Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1607
CVE-2023-21816Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1607
CVE-2023-35367Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1607
CVE-2023-32057Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1607
CVE-2023-35377Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1607
CVE-2023-35349Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1607
CVE-2023-36697Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1607
CVE-2023-36873Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1607
CVE-2023-24865Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1607

Affected Assets

microsoft
windows 10 1607
≤ 10.0.14393.5850
microsoft
windows 10 1809
≤ 10.0.17763.4252
microsoft
windows 10 20h2
≤ 10.0.19042.2846
microsoft
windows 10 21h2
≤ 10.0.19044.2846
microsoft
windows 10 22h2
≤ 10.0.19045.2846
microsoft
windows 11 21h2
≤ 10.0.22000.1817
microsoft
windows 11 22h2
≤ 10.0.22621.1555
microsoft
windows server 2008
all versions, r2
microsoft
windows server 2012
all versions, r2
microsoft
windows server 2016
all versions
+2 more product configuration(s) — see NVD for full list

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.

addresses: CWE-20

Security testing and developer training directly verify and enforce proper input validation, reducing exploitability of injection and malformed-data weaknesses.

addresses: CWE-20

Security testing and evaluation at multiple SDLC stages directly detects missing or flawed input validation, with the required remediation process ensuring fixes are applied.

addresses: CWE-20

Directly implements checks on information inputs to reject invalid data before processing.

addresses: CWE-20

Spam protection mechanisms perform filtering and detection on inbound/outbound messages, directly compensating for missing or weak input validation of unsolicited content.

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.

blocks

A.8.25 mandates security requirements, secure coding guidelines, checkpoints, testing (incl. code scans) and developer training in the SDLC, which reaches a slice of input validation defects but leaves the majority (incomplete enforcement, second-order inputs, parser differentials, post-validation canonicalization) unaddressed as in the SA-3 and A.8.28 anchors.

blocks

Mandating input controls that include integrity checks and input validation ensures that untrusted data is examined before use, blocking the root cause of many injection and malformed-data weaknesses.

blocks

Security-by-design principles explicitly call for data validation and sanitization at every layer, reducing the chance that malformed or malicious input will be processed without scrutiny.

prevents

Requiring language-specific secure coding standards, peer review, SAST and documented mitigation of common programming errors forces validation of all inputs before they are trusted.

finds

Testing against a defined set of requirements and using code review plus vulnerability scanning forces validation of inputs and handling of unanticipated conditions, reducing the chance that malformed data will be accepted.

Hardening callouts derived

DISA STIG baselines are authored against specific weaknesses. Where this CVE cites a broad weakness class, the mapping is not asserted at that abstraction (owner ruling, 2026-09-25: grade only at Base and below), so no rule is shown here rather than a rule shown against the wrong grain.

  • No fine-grained STIG row for CWE-20, a class-level weakness, and none of its children carries one either.

References