Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-41138

LPE in Appsanywhere Client 1.4.0 … 2.0.0

Published
09 November 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0018 7th percentile
Risk Priority 49 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-41138 is a high-severity Sensitive Information in Resource Not Removed Before Reuse (CWE-226) vulnerability in Appsanywhere Appsanywhere Client. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism (T1548); ranked at the 7th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

The AppsAnywhere macOS client-privileged helper can be tricked into executing arbitrary commands with elevated permissions by a local user process.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1548 Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may circumvent mechanisms designed to control privilege elevation to gain higher-level permissions.
T1003 OS Credential Dumping Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to dump credentials to obtain account login and credential material, normally in the form of a hash or a clear text password.
T1134 Access Token Manipulation Stealth
Adversaries may modify access tokens to operate under a different user or system security context to perform actions and bypass access controls.
T1548.001 Setuid and Setgid Privilege Escalation
An adversary may abuse configurations where an application has the setuid or setgid bits set in order to get code running in a different (and possibly more privileged) user’s context.
T1548.003 Sudo and Sudo Caching Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may perform sudo caching and/or use the sudoers file to elevate privileges.
T1552 Unsecured Credentials Credential Access
Adversaries may search compromised systems to find and obtain insecurely stored credentials.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-41137Same product: Appsanywhere Appsanywhere Client
CVE-2025-33198Shared CWE-226
CVE-2019-25560Shared CWE-226
CVE-2025-14858Shared CWE-226
CVE-2026-32960Shared CWE-226
CVE-2025-33196Shared CWE-226
CVE-2025-2522Shared CWE-226
CVE-2024-7883Shared CWE-226
CVE-2025-0647Shared CWE-226
CVE-2025-20622Shared CWE-226

Affected Assets

appsanywhere
appsanywhere client
1.4.0, 1.4.1, 1.5.1, 1.5.2, 1.6.0

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 9 hardening rules · 9 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V14.2.8
  • V14.3.1

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-269

Policy addresses roles, responsibilities, and privilege management to prevent improper privilege assignments.

addresses: CWE-269

Access supervision ensures privileges are assigned and managed without improper escalation or retention.

addresses: CWE-269

Assigning group/role memberships and access authorizations (privileges) while reviewing accounts addresses improper privilege management.

addresses: CWE-269

Enforces proper privilege management by requiring all decisions through the verified reference monitor.

addresses: CWE-269

By mandating division of duties across roles, the control enforces proper privilege management and prevents a single entity from controlling an entire sensitive process.

addresses: CWE-269

Implements core proper privilege management by restricting to only required rights.

addresses: CWE-269

Policy requires training on privilege management and least privilege, making it harder to exploit improper privilege management weaknesses.

addresses: CWE-269

Training covers proper privilege management practices, making incorrect privilege assignments less likely.

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.DS-10 full match
prevents

Explicit example calls for removing confidential data (e.g., from process memory) after use, directly preventing reuse of uncleared resources.

PR.AA-05 mostly match
prevents

PR.AA-05 enforces least privilege/SoD and periodic reviews that directly remove most privilege-assignment defects, yet CWE-269 also covers escalation paths and role design outside a single access-management control.

PR.AA-01 partial match
prevents

PR.AA-01 supplies credential/identity lifecycle support that can reduce some privilege-assignment errors but does not itself assign, modify, or check privileges, leaving most of CWE-269's risk unaddressed.

PR.PS-01 partial match
prevents

Config baselines and default reviews can enforce some privilege-related settings (one facet) but do not address code-level assignment/tracking logic that defines CWE-269.

PR.PS-05 partial match
prevents

PR.PS-05 can partially limit exploitability of some privilege issues via execution restrictions, but does not address the core design/implementation flaws of CWE-269 at all.

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.

degrades

Explicitly requires secure deletion of information before resources are reused or disposed.

prevents

Requiring owner approval, segregation of duties, and periodic reviews prevents the assignment of excessive or unnecessary privileges to users or processes.

prevents

Mandates secure disposal or re-use of equipment, covering media sanitization but not in-memory reuse.

prevents

Enforcing minimum-necessary privileges, temporary grants, and separation of administrative versus normal identities prevents the over-assignment of rights that CWE-269 describes.

finds

Security testing can detect failures to sanitize resources before reuse.

prevents

Dynamic techniques that grant the minimum necessary rights for a given time window and revoke them afterward reduce the window in which excessive or unnecessary privileges can be exploited.

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-248579 OL 8 must restrict access to the kernel message buffer. prevents CWE-226
Oracle Linux 9 (1 rule)
  • V-271745 OL 9 must restrict access to the kernel message buffer. prevents CWE-226
RHEL 8 (1 rule)
  • V-230269 RHEL 8 must restrict access to the kernel message buffer. prevents CWE-226
RHEL 9 (1 rule)
  • V-257797 RHEL 9 must restrict access to the kernel message buffer. prevents CWE-226
Windows 10 (1 rule)
  • V-220712 Only accounts responsible for the administration of a system must have Administrator rights on the system. prevents CWE-269
Windows 11 (1 rule)
  • V-253269 Only accounts responsible for the administration of a system must have Administrator rights on the system. prevents CWE-269
Windows Server 2016 (1 rule)
  • V-225007 Only administrators responsible for the member server or standalone or nondomain-joined system must have Administrator rights on the system. prevents CWE-269
Windows Server 2019 (1 rule)
  • V-205746 Windows Server 2019 must only allow Administrators responsible for the member server or standalone or nondomain-joined system to have Administrator rights on the system. prevents CWE-269
Windows Server 2022 (1 rule)
  • V-254428 Windows Server 2022 must only allow administrators responsible for the member server or standalone or nondomain-joined system to have Administrator rights on the system. prevents CWE-269

References