Security Resilience

CVE-2023-36431

DoS in Microsoft Windows Server 2008 r2

Published
10 October 2023
Modified
12 December 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.5
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:N/A:H
EPSS Score 0.025 84th percentile
Risk Priority 65 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-2023-36431 is a high-severity Uncontrolled Resource Consumption (CWE-400) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows Server 2008. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).

Operationally, ranked in the top 16% 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.

Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ) contains a denial-of-service vulnerability tracked as CVE-2023-36431. The flaw is present in the MSMQ component on supported Windows systems and is characterized by CWE-400, indicating uncontrolled resource consumption. It received a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.5 reflecting a network-accessible attack that can terminate availability without requiring authentication or user interaction.

An unauthenticated remote attacker can send specially crafted network messages to an MSMQ endpoint, triggering excessive resource use that renders the service unavailable. Because the attack requires no privileges and can be launched over the network with low complexity, any reachable MSMQ instance is potentially exposed to disruption of message queuing operations.

Microsoft has published remediation guidance and security updates for the issue through its Security Response Center at the listed advisory URLs. Organizations are advised to apply the patches referenced in those documents to eliminate the affected code paths.

The associated EPSS score has remained flat at 0.0683 with no material increase since disclosure.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ) Denial of Service Vulnerability

CWE(s)

Related Threats

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-38149Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2023-36579Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2023-28217Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2023-35329Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2024-38027Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2024-35270Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2024-38068Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2023-29331Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2023-36606Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1607
CVE-2023-35339Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507

Affected Assets

microsoft
windows 10 1507
≤ 10.0.10240.20232
microsoft
windows 10 1607
≤ 10.0.14393.6351
microsoft
windows 10 1809
≤ 10.0.17763.4974
microsoft
windows 10 21h2
≤ 10.0.19041.3570
microsoft
windows 10 22h2
≤ 10.0.19045.3570
microsoft
windows 11 21h2
≤ 10.0.22000.2538
microsoft
windows 11 22h2
≤ 10.0.22621.2428
microsoft
windows server 2008
all versions, r2
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-400

Limiting concurrent sessions directly prevents uncontrolled resource consumption by capping the number of active sessions per user or account.

addresses: CWE-400

Analysis identifies uncontrolled resource consumption indicative of denial-of-service or abuse attempts.

addresses: CWE-400

Contingency plan testing includes resource exhaustion scenarios to verify recovery, making it harder for attackers to sustain exploits that cause uncontrolled consumption.

addresses: CWE-400

Updated contingency plans include current procedures to detect, contain, and recover from resource exhaustion, limiting an attacker's ability to sustain impact from uncontrolled consumption.

addresses: CWE-400

Alternate site allows resumption of operations if resource exhaustion at the primary site is exploited to cause unavailability.

addresses: CWE-400

Alternate telecommunications services enable resumption of essential functions when primary services become unavailable due to uncontrolled resource consumption.

addresses: CWE-400

The team can analyze and respond to resource exhaustion incidents, reducing the impact of attacks that exploit uncontrolled consumption weaknesses.

addresses: CWE-400

Timely maintenance support and spare parts enable rapid recovery from failures induced by uncontrolled resource consumption, shortening the impact window of denial-of-service attacks.

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.

finds

Pre-agreed severity-based prioritization and resource allocation during incident triage reduce the likelihood that an attacker-induced resource exhaustion will overwhelm the organization before corrective action is taken.

finds

Early notification of anomalous resource consumption or system malfunctions enables throttling or isolation before availability is lost.

A.8.15 Logging partial match
finds

Specifying log storage limits and rotation procedures reduces the risk that unbounded log growth will exhaust disk or memory resources and cause denial of service.

finds

Resource-utilization monitoring and alerting on bottlenecks or overloads limits the impact of denial-of-service or resource-exhaustion attacks.

blocks

A.8.20 implements network-level protections (firewalls, segmentation, protocol hardening, monitoring, authentication of systems/devices) that can limit abuse of a resource-consuming weakness but do not stop the weakness from being exploitable; the flaw remains present in the product and can still be triggered from an authorized or internal context.

blocks

Monitoring network service usage and applying controls to restrict access when necessary limits an attacker’s ability to consume excessive resources through unrestricted or unauthenticated service calls.

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-400, a class-level weakness. Rules are authored against its narrower children: CWE-770.

References