Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-41766

LPE in Microsoft Windows Server 2008 r2

LPE
Published
10 October 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.013 67th percentile
Risk Priority 59 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-41766 is a high-severity Untrusted Search Path (CWE-426) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows Server 2008. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Path Interception (T1034); ranked in the top 33% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; 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

Windows Client Server Run-time Subsystem (CSRSS) Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

CWE(s)
CWE-426NVD-CWE-noinfo

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1034 Path Interception Persistence
**This technique has been deprecated.
attack.mitre.org →
T1574 Hijack Execution Flow Stealth
Adversaries may execute their own malicious payloads by hijacking the way operating systems run programs.
attack.mitre.org →
T1574.001 DLL Stealth
Adversaries may abuse dynamic-link library files (DLLs) in order to achieve persistence, escalate privileges, and evade defenses.
attack.mitre.org →
T1574.008 Path Interception by Search Order Hijacking Stealth
Adversaries may execute their own malicious payloads by hijacking the search order used to load other programs.
attack.mitre.org →
T1574.007 Path Interception by PATH Environment Variable Stealth
Adversaries may execute their own malicious payloads by hijacking environment variables used to load libraries.
attack.mitre.org →
T1574.009 Path Interception by Unquoted Path Stealth
Adversaries may execute their own malicious payloads by hijacking vulnerable file path references.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-36393Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2023-36003Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2024-20693Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2023-35343Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2022-22047Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1507
CVE-2026-57097Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1607
CVE-2026-47648Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1607
CVE-2026-25190Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1607
CVE-2026-56174Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809
CVE-2023-36898Same product: Microsoft Windows 11 21H2

Affected Assets

microsoft
windows 10 1507
≤ 10.0.10240.20232
microsoft
windows 10 1607
≤ 10.0.14393.6351
microsoft
windows 10 1809
≤ 10.0.17763.4974
microsoft
windows 10 21h2
≤ 10.0.19041.3570
microsoft
windows 10 22h2
≤ 10.0.19045.3570
microsoft
windows 11 21h2
≤ 10.0.22000.2538
microsoft
windows 11 22h2
≤ 10.0.22621.2428
microsoft
windows server 2008
all versions, r2
microsoft
windows server 2012
all versions, r2
microsoft
windows server 2016
all versions
+2 more product configuration(s) — see NVD for full list

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-05 full match
prevents

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

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

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

PR.PS-01 partial match
prevents

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

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 discover search-path issues but does not itself prevent them in production code.

A.8.19 Installation of software on operational systems partial match
degrades

Restricting software installation reduces the chance that untrusted binaries or libraries are placed in search paths.

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

Secure architecture principles include hard-coded or validated search paths and avoiding reliance on untrusted directories.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards require absolute paths or integrity-checked search paths, directly mitigating CWE-426.

A.8.32 Change management none match
none

Change-management processes can enforce review of path-handling changes, indirectly lowering risk.

References