Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-39246

Dell Endpoint Security Suite Enterprise ≤ 11.8.1

Published
16 November 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 4.6
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:L
EPSS Score 0.0015 5th percentile
Risk Priority 34 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-39246 is a medium-severity UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following (CWE-61) vulnerability in Dell Endpoint Security Suite Enterprise. Its CVSS base score is 4.6 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Path Interception (T1034); ranked at the 5th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A01:2025 Broken Access Control

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Dell Encryption, Dell Endpoint Security Suite Enterprise, and Dell Security Management Server version prior to 11.8.1 contain an Insecure Operation on Windows Junction Vulnerability during installation. A local malicious user could potentially exploit this vulnerability to create an arbitrary folder…

more

inside a restricted directory, leading to Privilege Escalation

CWE(s)
CWE-61CWE-59

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1034 Path Interception Persistence
**This technique has been deprecated.
attack.mitre.org →
T1547.009 Shortcut Modification Persistence
Adversaries may create or modify shortcuts that can execute a program during system boot or user login.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-36611Same product: Dell Encryption
CVE-2025-36564Same product: Dell Encryption
CVE-2024-52537Same product: Microsoft Windows
CVE-2024-47480Same vendor: Dell
CVE-2025-22480Same vendor: Dell
CVE-2024-25952Same vendor: Dell
CVE-2024-25953Same vendor: Dell
CVE-2024-52535Same vendor: Dell
CVE-2024-52542Same vendor: Dell
CVE-2024-39578Same vendor: Dell

Affected Assets

dell
endpoint security suite enterprise
≤ 11.8.1
dell
encryption
≤ 11.8.1
dell
security management server
≤ 11.8.1

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 2 hardening rules · 2 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V15.4.2
  • V5.2.5

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-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly prevent introduction of symlink-following flaws in file-handling code.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification can discover existing symlink issues but does not prevent or remediate them in code.

PR.AA-05 partial match
prevents

Least-privilege access policies can limit damage from symlink attacks but do not address the coding flaw itself.

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.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing can detect symlink-following vulnerabilities before deployment, covering most of the weakness.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices can mandate link-resolution checks and canonicalization before file access.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements can explicitly require safe handling of symbolic links and path traversal.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure-architecture principles require safe file-handling and canonicalization, directly addressing symlink attacks.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure-coding standards mandate explicit symlink checks and safe open patterns, fully mitigating CWE-61.

A.8.3 Information access restriction partial match
mitigates

Access-control rules can restrict which files a process may open, reducing symlink-following risk but not eliminating the underlying path-resolution flaw.

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 (1 rule)
  • V-248577 OL 8 must enable kernel parameters to enforce Discretionary Access Control (DAC) on symlinks. prevents CWE-61

References