Security Resilience

CVE-2023-36540

LPE in Zoom ≤ 5.14.5

LPE
Published
08 August 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.3
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:L
EPSS Score 0.0032 23th percentile
Risk Priority 51 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-2023-36540 is a high-severity Untrusted Search Path (CWE-426) vulnerability in Zoom Zoom. Its CVSS base score is 7.3 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Path Interception by Unquoted Path (T1574.009); ranked at the 23th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A08:2025 Software or Data Integrity Failures

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Untrusted search path in the installer for Zoom Desktop Client for Windows before 5.14.5 may allow an authenticated user to enable an escalation of privilege via local access.

CWE(s)
CWE-426

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1574.009 Path Interception by Unquoted Path Stealth
Adversaries may execute their own malicious payloads by hijacking vulnerable file path references.
attack.mitre.org →
T1001.001 Junk Data Command And Control
Adversaries may add junk data to protocols used for command and control to make detection more difficult.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.003 NTDS Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access or create a copy of the Active Directory domain database in order to steal credential information, as well as obtain other information about domain members such as devices, users, and access rights.
attack.mitre.org →
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.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.006 DCSync Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access credentials and other sensitive information by abusing a Windows Domain Controller's application programming interface (API)(Citation: Microsoft DRSR Dec 2017) (Citation: Microsoft GetNCCChanges) (Citati…
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

CVE-2024-24697Same product: Zoom Zoom
CVE-2023-36538Same vendor: Zoom
CVE-2023-34116Same product: Zoom Zoom
CVE-2023-22882Same product: Zoom Zoom
CVE-2023-39208Same product: Zoom Zoom
CVE-2023-36534Same product: Zoom Zoom
CVE-2024-24694Same product: Zoom Zoom
CVE-2023-36541Same product: Zoom Zoom
CVE-2023-36536Same vendor: Zoom
CVE-2023-22881Same product: Zoom Zoom

Affected Assets

zoom
zoom
≤ 5.14.5

Mitigating Controls

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-01 partial match
blocks

Hardened configuration baselines can enforce safe search paths and restrict environment variables that enable the weakness.

PR.PS-05 partial match
blocks

Preventing execution of unauthorized code directly blocks the malicious binaries that an untrusted search path would load.

PR.PS-06 partial match
blocks

Secure development practices include avoiding or sanitizing externally influenced search paths in application code.

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

References