Security Resilience

CVE-2023-24870

Memory Safety in Microsoft Windows Server 2012 r2

Published
14 March 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 6.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
EPSS Score 0.015 73th percentile
Risk Priority 59 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-2023-24870 is a medium-severity Buffer Over-read (CWE-126) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows Server 2012. Its CVSS base score is 6.5 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Protocol or Service Impersonation (T1001.003); ranked in the top 27% 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.

CVE-2023-24870 is an information disclosure vulnerability affecting the Microsoft PostScript and PCL6 Class Printer Driver. It carries a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.5 and is associated with CWE-126 and CWE-668, indicating risks related to buffer over-read and exposure of sensitive information to an unauthorized actor.

An attacker with low privileges and network access can exploit the flaw without user interaction to read sensitive data from the affected driver, resulting in high confidentiality impact while leaving integrity and availability unaffected.

Microsoft's security advisory at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2023-24870 addresses the issue and directs administrators to apply the published security updates for the impacted printer driver components.

The associated EPSS score has remained flat at 0.1009 with no material rise after disclosure.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Microsoft PostScript and PCL6 Class Printer Driver Information Disclosure Vulnerability

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001.003 Protocol or Service Impersonation Command And Control
Adversaries may impersonate legitimate protocols or web service traffic to disguise command and control activity and thwart analysis efforts.
T1003 OS Credential Dumping Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to dump credentials to obtain account login and credential material, normally in the form of a hash or a clear text password.
T1003.004 LSA Secrets Credential Access
Adversaries with SYSTEM access to a host may attempt to access Local Security Authority (LSA) secrets, which can contain a variety of different credential materials, such as credentials for service accounts.
T1003.006 DCSync Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access credentials and other sensitive information by abusing a Windows Domain Controller's application programming interface (API)(Citation: Microsoft DRSR Dec 2017) (Citation: Microsoft GetNCCChanges) (Citati…
T1003.007 Proc Filesystem Credential Access
Adversaries may gather credentials from the proc filesystem or `/proc`.
T1005 Data from Local System Collection
Adversaries may search local system sources, such as file systems, configuration files, local databases, virtual machine files, or process memory, to find files of interest and sensitive data prior to Exfiltration.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-24883Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2023-24901Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2023-24942Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2023-28266Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2023-32085Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2023-35324Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2023-28267Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2023-38172Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2023-33167Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2023-33169Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507

Affected Assets

microsoft
windows 10 1507
≤ 10.0.10240.19805
microsoft
windows 10 1607
≤ 10.0.14393.5786
microsoft
windows 10 1809
≤ 10.0.17763.4131
microsoft
windows 10 20h2
≤ 10.0.19042.2728
microsoft
windows 10 21h2
≤ 10.0.19044.2728
microsoft
windows 10 22h2
≤ 10.0.19045.2728
microsoft
windows 11 21h2
≤ 10.0.22000.1696
microsoft
windows 11 22h2
≤ 10.0.22000.1413
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-668

Controls whether organization resources are exposed to external system spheres by permitting or prohibiting their use.

addresses: CWE-668

The control ensures information is not released into a security sphere where the recipient lacks matching access authorizations.

addresses: CWE-668

The control ensures information resources are not exposed to the incorrect (public) sphere through review and authorization.

addresses: CWE-668

Protects against data mining that would expose resources to unauthorized spheres by enforcing detection and controls.

addresses: CWE-668

Restricts information flows to ensure resources are not exposed to incorrect or unauthorized spheres.

addresses: CWE-668

Controlling internal connections prevents exposure of resources to unintended internal spheres.

addresses: CWE-668

Knowing exact processing and storage locations helps avoid exposure of resources to incorrect spheres.

addresses: CWE-668

The control prevents exposure of the media resource to the wrong security sphere.

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.

ID.RA-01 partial match
blocks

Vulnerability identification processes can discover buffer over-read flaws via scanning or review.

PR.PS-02 partial match
blocks

Patching or replacing vulnerable software removes known instances of buffer over-read bugs.

PR.PS-06 partial match
blocks

Secure development practices directly prevent introduction of buffer over-read weaknesses.

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.

removes
removes
removes
removes
removes

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-668, a class-level weakness. Rules are authored against its narrower children: CWE-427, CWE-552.

References