Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2023-21689 is a critical-severity Heap-based Buffer Overflow (CWE-122) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 10 1809. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 2% 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 Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol (PEAP) contains a remote code execution vulnerability tracked as CVE-2023-21689. The flaw is present in the PEAP implementation used for network authentication in Microsoft Windows and related networking components. It received a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.8, reflecting network-accessible attack vectors with low complexity and no required privileges or user interaction, and is associated with CWE-122 (heap-based buffer overflow).
An unauthenticated attacker able to reach a vulnerable PEAP endpoint can send specially crafted authentication messages that trigger the flaw, resulting in arbitrary code execution on the target system with full control over confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The attack requires only network adjacency to the affected service and does not depend on user interaction or credentials.
Microsoft’s advisory at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2023-21689 provides the official patch and mitigation guidance. The current EPSS score of 0.2938 with a recorded peak of 0.3514 indicates moderate and sustained exploitation interest following disclosure.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-25856
Vulnerability Data
Microsoft Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol (PEAP) Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V1.4.1
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.
Secure-development practices directly require bounds checking and safe memory handling that prevent heap overflows.
Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover heap-overflow flaws but does not prevent their introduction in code.
Timely patching removes known heap-overflow instances after they exist.
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.
Security testing in development and acceptance can detect heap overflows before release.
Secure development lifecycle mandates practices that reduce the likelihood of introducing heap overflows.
Application security requirements can specify bounds-checking and safe memory APIs that mitigate heap overflows.
Secure architecture and engineering principles include memory-safety and input-validation controls that address heap overflows.
Secure coding standards directly prescribe techniques (safe functions, bounds checks) that prevent heap-based buffer overflows.
Change management ensures controlled deployment of fixes for discovered heap-overflow vulnerabilities.