Security Resilience

CVE-2023-36013

Exposed Creds in Microsoft Powershell 7.2 – 7.2.17

Published
20 November 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 0.014 73th percentile
Risk Priority 54 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-2023-36013 is a medium-severity Use of Hard-coded Credentials (CWE-798) vulnerability in Microsoft Powershell. Its CVSS base score is 6.5 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Credentials In Files (T1552.001); ranked in the top 27% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

PowerShell Information Disclosure Vulnerability

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1552.001 Credentials In Files Credential Access
Adversaries may search local file systems and remote file shares for files containing insecurely stored credentials.
T1001 Data Obfuscation Command And Control
Adversaries may obfuscate command and control traffic to make it more difficult to detect.
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.
T1003.004 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.
T1016.001 Internet Connection Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may check for Internet connectivity on compromised systems.
T1016.002 Wi-Fi Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may search for information about Wi-Fi networks, such as network names and passwords, on compromised systems.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-49060Same vendor: Microsoft
CVE-2023-21524Same vendor: Microsoft
CVE-2025-27488Same vendor: Microsoft
CVE-2024-29063Same vendor: Microsoft
CVE-2026-47281Same vendor: Microsoft
CVE-2023-31173Same vendor: Microsoft
CVE-2024-28778Same vendor: Microsoft
CVE-2024-6912Same vendor: Microsoft
CVE-2024-52902Same vendor: Microsoft
CVE-2024-21392Same product: Microsoft Powershell

Affected Assets

microsoft
powershell
7.2 — 7.2.17 · 7.3 — 7.3.10

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-798

Enables users to notice when hard-coded credentials have been exploited for unauthorized access.

addresses: CWE-798

Security training explicitly warns against hard-coded credentials, lowering their use in systems.

addresses: CWE-668

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

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.AA-01 partial match
blocks

PR.AA-01's credential/key-management processes can reduce the incentive to embed secrets but do not address or detect hard-coded values in source code, so the weakness remains fully possible.

PR.AA-02 none match
blocks

PR.AA-02 addresses human identity proofing and per-person credential issuance at enrollment; it has no bearing on whether developers embed static credentials in software.

PR.DS-01 none match
blocks

PR.DS-01 addresses encryption and integrity of stored data but never touches credential or key management practices, so it neither prevents hard-coded credentials nor removes any of their risk.

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
blocks

Education on secure configuration practices discourages technical staff from embedding or relying on hard-coded credentials in systems and applications.

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