CVE-2023-36033
Memory Safety in Microsoft Windows 10 1809 ≤ 10.0.17763.5122
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2023-36033 is a high-severity Untrusted Pointer Dereference (CWE-822) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 10 1809. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Data Obfuscation (T1001); ranked in the top 4% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities 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-2023-36033 is an elevation-of-privilege vulnerability in the Windows DWM Core Library that carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 7.8. The flaw stems from improper handling of objects in memory (CWE-119) and incorrect pointer dereferences (CWE-822), allowing an authenticated local user to execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges on affected Windows systems.
An attacker with low-privileged local access can exploit the issue without user interaction to obtain full control over the affected host, resulting in complete compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The attack vector is strictly local and does not require network access or elevated rights to begin.
Microsoft has published security updates addressing the vulnerability through its update guide, and the flaw appears in CISA’s catalog of known exploited vulnerabilities, confirming that in-the-wild exploitation has been observed. The associated EPSS score remains low, with a current value of 0.0091 and a peak of 0.0118.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-40017
Vulnerability Data
Windows DWM Core Library Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
- CWE(s)
- KEV Date Added
- 14 November 2023
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
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.
Ongoing control assessments and code testing (static/dynamic analysis, fuzzing) surface memory buffer restriction failures, which are then remediated before release.
Managed runtimes used by platform-independent applications (e.g., JVM, CLR) enforce memory safety, preventing most buffer overflows that require direct memory manipulation.
Memory protections (e.g., W^X, ASLR) make exploitation of buffer-boundary violations far harder to turn into code execution.
Detects exploitation attempts that produce memory corruption, crashes, or anomalous behavior.
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.
Runtime monitoring of software and data can detect adverse events resulting from exploitation of the weakness.
Vulnerability identification processes can discover instances of this weakness via code review or scanning.
Secure SDLC practices directly prevent introduction of untrusted pointer handling during development.
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.
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-119, a class-level weakness. Rules are authored against its narrower children: CWE-823.