Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-35308

Path Traversal in Microsoft Windows Server 2012 r2

Path Traversal
Published
11 July 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 6.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L
EPSS Score 0.011 63th percentile
Risk Priority 53 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-35308 is a medium-severity External Control of File Name or Path (CWE-73) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows Server 2012. Its CVSS base score is 6.5 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Data from Local System (T1005); ranked in the top 37% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A06:2025 Insecure Design

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Windows MSHTML Platform Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability

CWE(s)
CWE-73NVD-CWE-noinfo

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

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 →
T1083 File and Directory Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may enumerate files and directories or may search in specific locations of a host or network share for certain information within a file system.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1574.007 Path Interception by PATH Environment Variable Stealth
Adversaries may execute their own malicious payloads by hijacking environment variables used to load libraries.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-35384Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2024-20652Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2023-29324Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2025-24996Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2025-59185Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2025-21377Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2025-33053Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2024-43451Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2025-24054Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2025-59244Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507

Affected Assets

microsoft
windows 10 1507
≤ 10.0.10240.20048
microsoft
windows 10 1607
≤ 10.0.14393.6085
microsoft
windows 10 1809
≤ 10.0.17763.4645
microsoft
windows 10 21h2
≤ 10.0.19041.3208
microsoft
windows 10 22h2
≤ 10.0.19045.3208
microsoft
windows 11 21h2
≤ 10.0.22000.2176
microsoft
windows 11 22h2
≤ 10.0.22621.1992
microsoft
windows server 2012
all versions, r2
microsoft
windows server 2016
all versions
microsoft
windows server 2019
all versions
+1 more product configuration(s) — see NVD for full list

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

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.

SI-10 Information Input Validation
addresses: CWE-73

Rejects externally supplied file or resource identifiers that fail validity checks.

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 full match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices include input validation and path sanitization that eliminate this weakness.

PR.AA-05 mostly match
prevents

Least-privilege file authorization directly limits damage from externally controlled paths.

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.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing can detect path-traversal issues but does not itself implement preventive controls.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development lifecycle mandates input validation and path-handling controls that directly prevent external file/path manipulation.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements explicitly call for controls against untrusted input influencing file operations.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles discourage unsafe path construction but do not prescribe concrete file-name controls.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards require canonicalization, allow-listing, and bounds checks on file paths, directly eliminating CWE-73.

A.8.3 Information access restriction partial match
mitigates

Information access restriction limits which files can be reached, indirectly reducing impact of path manipulation.

References