CVE-2023-36606
Published: 10 October 2023
Summary
CVE-2023-36606 is a high-severity Uncontrolled Resource Consumption (CWE-400) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 11 21H2. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).
Operationally, ranked in the top 2.1% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Deeper analysis
Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ) is affected by a denial-of-service vulnerability tracked as CVE-2023-36606. The flaw is rated 7.5 under CVSS 3.1 with a vector of AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H and is associated with CWE-400, indicating uncontrolled resource consumption that can be triggered over the network.
An unauthenticated remote attacker can send specially crafted messages to an exposed MSMQ service, causing the component to consume excessive resources and become unavailable without any user interaction or credentials required. Successful exploitation results in high impact to availability while leaving confidentiality and integrity unaffected.
Microsoft has published an advisory for CVE-2023-36606 that directs administrators to the corresponding security update for affected Windows versions. The EPSS score for this CVE stands at 0.4976 with no material increase from an earlier lower value.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-40551
Vulnerability details
Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ) Denial of Service Vulnerability
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.
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.
Limiting concurrent sessions directly prevents uncontrolled resource consumption by capping the number of active sessions per user or account.
Analysis identifies uncontrolled resource consumption indicative of denial-of-service or abuse attempts.
Contingency plan testing includes resource exhaustion scenarios to verify recovery, making it harder for attackers to sustain exploits that cause uncontrolled consumption.
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.
Alternate site allows resumption of operations if resource exhaustion at the primary site is exploited to cause unavailability.
Alternate telecommunications services enable resumption of essential functions when primary services become unavailable due to uncontrolled resource consumption.
The team can analyze and respond to resource exhaustion incidents, reducing the impact of attacks that exploit uncontrolled consumption weaknesses.
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.