Security Resilience

CVE-2023-41969

Zscaler Client Connector ≤ 4.3

Published
26 March 2024
Modified
10 October 2025
CVSS Score v3.1 7.3
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:L
EPSS Score 0.0031 22th percentile
Risk Priority 53 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2023-41969 is a high-severity UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following (CWE-61) vulnerability in Zscaler Client Connector. Its CVSS base score is 7.3 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Data Obfuscation (T1001); ranked at the 22th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and AC-4 (Information Flow Enforcement) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A01:2025 Broken Access Control

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

An arbitrary file deletion in ZSATrayManager where it protects the temporary encrypted ZApp issue reporting file from the unprivileged end user access and modification. Fixed version: Win ZApp 4.3.0 and later.

CWE(s)
CWE-61NVD-CWE-Other

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001 Data Obfuscation Command And Control
Adversaries may obfuscate command and control traffic to make it more difficult to detect.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.007 Proc Filesystem Credential Access
Adversaries may gather credentials from the proc filesystem or `/proc`.
attack.mitre.org →
T1007 System Service Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may try to gather information about registered local system services.
attack.mitre.org →
T1011.001 Exfiltration Over Bluetooth Exfiltration
Adversaries may attempt to exfiltrate data over Bluetooth rather than the command and control channel.
attack.mitre.org →
T1016 System Network Configuration Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may look for details about the network configuration and settings, such as IP and/or MAC addresses, of systems they access or through information discovery of remote systems.
attack.mitre.org →
T1016.002 Wi-Fi Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may search for information about Wi-Fi networks, such as network names and passwords, on compromised systems.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-28797Same product: Zscaler Client Connector
CVE-2023-41971Same product: Zscaler Client Connector
CVE-2024-23459Same product: Zscaler Client Connector
CVE-2024-23463Same product: Zscaler Client Connector
CVE-2024-23462Same product: Zscaler Client Connector
CVE-2024-23464Same product: Zscaler Client Connector
CVE-2024-23483Same product: Zscaler Client Connector
CVE-2024-23458Same product: Zscaler Client Connector
CVE-2024-23482Same product: Zscaler Client Connector
CVE-2024-23457Same product: Zscaler Client Connector

Affected Assets

zscaler
client connector
≤ 4.3

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)
  • V5.2.5

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

AC-3 Access Enforcement good match

Access enforcement must resolve the actual target of any file reference and apply authorizations to it, directly stopping symlink traversal to unauthorized objects.

AC-4 Information Flow Enforcement partial match

Information-flow enforcement on file operations must follow the resolved target rather than the link name, blocking unauthorized data movement via symlinks.

AC-6 Least Privilege partial match

Least-privilege restrictions on the directories that may contain links or targets reduce the set of files an attacker can reach even if a symlink is followed.

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.

ID.RA-01 partial match
blocks

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

PR.AA-05 partial match
blocks

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

PR.PS-06 partial match
blocks

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

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.5.14 Information transfer partial match
removes
A.5.15 Access control partial match
removes
A.5.16 Identity management partial match
removes
A.5.17 Authentication information partial match
removes
A.5.18 Access rights partial match
removes
A.8.10 Information deletion partial match
removes

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` (higher-evidence 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. blocks CWE-61

References