CVE-2023-33144

Path Traversal in Microsoft Visual Studio Code ≤ 1.79

Path Traversal

Published

14 June 2023

Modified

21 November 2024

Patch / advisory

View advisory

CVSS Score v3.1 6.6

Click a component to see what it means

Raw vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

EPSS Score 0.013 69th percentile

Risk Priority 57 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-2023-33144 is a medium-severity Relative Path Traversal (CWE-23) vulnerability in Microsoft Visual Studio Code. Its CVSS base score is 6.6 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Data Obfuscation (T1001); ranked in the top 31% 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-2023-33144 is a spoofing vulnerability affecting Visual Studio Code, assigned CWE-23 for relative path traversal. It carries a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.6 reflecting local attack vector, low attack complexity, low privileges required, and required user interaction, resulting in high impact to confidentiality and integrity with no availability effect.

An attacker with local access and limited privileges can exploit the flaw by presenting a crafted resource that the victim is tricked into opening or interacting with inside Visual Studio Code, enabling unauthorized disclosure or modification of files on the system.

Microsoft has published guidance for the issue in its Security Response Center advisory at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2023-33144.

The EPSS score for this CVE rose materially from a low baseline to a peak of 0.0762 on 2025-01-22 before receding to its current value of 0.0072, indicating a period of increased exploitation interest after disclosure.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-37329

Vulnerability Data

Visual Studio Code Spoofing Vulnerability

CWE(s): CWE-23 NVD-CWE-noinfo

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001 Data Obfuscation Command And Control

Adversaries may obfuscate command and control traffic to make it more difficult to detect.

attack.mitre.org →

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.

attack.mitre.org →

T1003.002 Security Account Manager Credential Access

Adversaries may attempt to extract credential material from the Security Account Manager (SAM) database either through in-memory techniques or through the Windows Registry where the SAM database is stored.

attack.mitre.org →

T1003.005 Cached Domain Credentials Credential Access

Adversaries may attempt to access cached domain credentials used to allow authentication to occur in the event a domain controller is unavailable.

attack.mitre.org →

T1003.007 Proc Filesystem Credential Access

Adversaries may gather credentials from the proc filesystem or `/proc`.

attack.mitre.org →

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.

attack.mitre.org →

Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

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CVE-2024-30010Same vendor: Microsoft

CVE-2023-24893Same product: Microsoft Visual Studio Code

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CVE-2026-65810Same vendor: Microsoft

CVE-2024-49062Same vendor: Microsoft

CVE-2026-70337Same vendor: Microsoft

CVE-2024-26165Same product: Microsoft Visual Studio Code

Affected Assets

microsoft

visual studio code

≤ 1.79

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)

V5.3.2

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 partial match

blocks

Secure SDLC practices directly require input validation and path sanitization that prevent relative traversal.

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.

A.5.14 Information transfer partial match

removes

A.5.15 Access control partial match

removes

A.5.16 Identity management partial match

removes

A.5.17 Authentication information partial match

removes

A.5.18 Access rights partial match

removes

A.8.10 Information deletion partial match

removes