CVE-2023-36596
Microsoft Windows 10 1809 ≤ 10.0.17763.4974
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:NSummary
CVE-2023-36596 is a high-severity Untrusted Pointer Dereference (CWE-822) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 10 1809. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Cloud Instance Metadata API (T1552.005); ranked in the top 21% 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.
CVE-2023-36596 is a Remote Procedure Call Information Disclosure Vulnerability affecting Microsoft components responsible for handling RPC communications. It received a CVSS 3.1 score of 7.5 reflecting network-accessible exposure with no required authentication or user interaction that can result in high-impact confidentiality loss while leaving integrity and availability unaffected. The issue is also associated with CWE-822 and CWE-668.
An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit the flaw to disclose sensitive information from the targeted system. No special privileges or user interaction are needed for successful exploitation.
Microsoft publishes mitigation details for this vulnerability in its Security Response Center update guide at the referenced URL. The EPSS probability rose from a low baseline after disclosure to a peak of 0.0532 on 2025-01-22 before receding to the current value of 0.0030, indicating a period of increased exploitation interest that later subsided.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-40541
Vulnerability Data
Remote Procedure Call Information Disclosure Vulnerability
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 8 hardening rules · 7 OS baselines
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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.
Controls whether organization resources are exposed to external system spheres by permitting or prohibiting their use.
The control ensures information is not released into a security sphere where the recipient lacks matching access authorizations.
The control ensures information resources are not exposed to the incorrect (public) sphere through review and authorization.
Protects against data mining that would expose resources to unauthorized spheres by enforcing detection and controls.
Restricts information flows to ensure resources are not exposed to incorrect or unauthorized spheres.
Controlling internal connections prevents exposure of resources to unintended internal spheres.
Knowing exact processing and storage locations helps avoid exposure of resources to incorrect spheres.
The control prevents exposure of the media resource to the wrong security sphere.
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.
Enforcing least-privilege authorizations directly prevents resources from being exposed outside their intended control sphere.
Secure SDLC practices directly prevent introduction of untrusted pointer handling during development.
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.
Network segmentation and unauthorized-access protections reduce the chance of resources being reachable by the wrong sphere.
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.
Security testing can detect pointer-dereference flaws before release.
Placing systems of differing trust levels into separate domains prevents resources from being placed in a sphere where they are reachable by unintended actors.
Secure development lifecycle includes pointer-safety practices that reduce untrusted pointer dereference risk.
Application security requirements can mandate validation of pointers obtained from untrusted sources.
Secure architecture principles discourage direct use of untrusted values as pointers.
Secure coding standards explicitly forbid dereferencing pointers derived from untrusted input.
Hardening callouts derived
Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).
Oracle Linux 8 (2 rules)
- V-248827 OL 8 must not have the rsh-server package installed. prevents CWE-668
- V-248823 OL 8 must not have the telnet-server package installed. prevents CWE-668
RHEL 7 (1 rule)
- V-204442 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must not have the rsh-server package installed. prevents CWE-668
Windows 10 (1 rule)
- V-220967 The Debug programs user right must only be assigned to the Administrators group. prevents CWE-668
Windows 11 (1 rule)
- V-253490 The "Debug programs" user right must only be assigned to the Administrators group. prevents CWE-668
Windows Server 2016 (1 rule)
- V-225079 The Debug programs user right must only be assigned to the Administrators group. prevents CWE-668
Windows Server 2019 (1 rule)
- V-205757 Windows Server 2019 Debug programs: user right must only be assigned to the Administrators group. prevents CWE-668
Windows Server 2022 (1 rule)
- V-254500 Windows Server 2022 debug programs user right must only be assigned to the Administrators group. prevents CWE-668