Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-43074

Path Traversal in Dell Unity Operating Environment ≤ 5.3.0.0.5.120

Path Traversal
Published
23 October 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 5.2
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L
EPSS Score 0.0047 38th percentile
Risk Priority 41 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-43074 is a medium-severity External Control of File Name or Path (CWE-73) vulnerability in Dell Unity Operating Environment. Its CVSS base score is 5.2 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Data from Local System (T1005); ranked at the 38th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A06:2025 Insecure Design

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Dell Unity 5.3 contain(s) an Arbitrary File Creation vulnerability. A remote unauthenticated attacker could potentially exploit this vulnerability by crafting arbitrary files through a request to the server.

CWE(s)
CWE-73NVD-CWE-noinfo

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1005 Data from Local System Collection
Adversaries may search local system sources, such as file systems, configuration files, local databases, virtual machine files, or process memory, to find files of interest and sensitive data prior to Exfiltration.
attack.mitre.org →
T1083 File and Directory Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may enumerate files and directories or may search in specific locations of a host or network share for certain information within a file system.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
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 →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-43067Same product: Dell Unity Operating Environment
CVE-2023-43066Same product: Dell Unity Operating Environment
CVE-2023-43065Same product: Dell Unity Operating Environment
CVE-2024-22229Same product: Dell Unity Operating Environment
CVE-2026-26361Same vendor: Dell
CVE-2023-43082Same product: Dell Unity Operating Environment
CVE-2026-26359Same vendor: Dell
CVE-2026-26360Same vendor: Dell
CVE-2024-25965Same vendor: Dell
CVE-2024-22226Same product: Dell Unity Operating Environment

Affected Assets

dell
unity operating environment
≤ 5.3.0.0.5.120
dell
unity xt operating environment
≤ 5.3.0.0.5.120
dell
unityvsa operating environment
≤ 5.3.0.0.5.120

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V5.3.2

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.

SI-10 Information Input Validation
addresses: CWE-73

Rejects externally supplied file or resource identifiers that fail validity checks.

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 full match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices include input validation and path sanitization that eliminate this weakness.

PR.AA-05 mostly match
prevents

Least-privilege file authorization directly limits damage from externally controlled paths.

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 path-traversal issues but does not itself implement preventive controls.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development lifecycle mandates input validation and path-handling controls that directly prevent external file/path manipulation.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements explicitly call for controls against untrusted input influencing file operations.

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

Secure architecture principles discourage unsafe path construction but do not prescribe concrete file-name controls.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards require canonicalization, allow-listing, and bounds checks on file paths, directly eliminating CWE-73.

A.8.3 Information access restriction partial match
mitigates

Information access restriction limits which files can be reached, indirectly reducing impact of path manipulation.

References