Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-43586

Path Traversal in Zoom Virtual Desktop Infrastructure ≤ 5.14.14

Path Traversal
Published
13 December 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.3
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0099 59th percentile
Risk Priority 51 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-43586 is a high-severity Untrusted Search Path (CWE-426) vulnerability in Zoom Virtual Desktop Infrastructure. Its CVSS base score is 7.3 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Path Interception (T1034); ranked in the top 41% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A01:2025 Broken Access ControlA08:2025 Software or Data Integrity Failures

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Path traversal in Zoom Desktop Client for Windows, Zoom VDI Client for Windows, and Zoom SDKs for Windows may allow an authenticated user to conduct an escalation of privilege via network access.

CWE(s)
CWE-426CWE-22

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 →
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-2023-36534Same product: Zoom Zoom
CVE-2024-39826Same product: Zoom Meeting Software Development Kit
CVE-2024-13158Shared CWE-22, CWE-426
CVE-2023-34117Same vendor: Zoom
CVE-2026-23888Shared CWE-22, CWE-426
CVE-2024-7061Shared CWE-22
CVE-2025-5981Shared CWE-22
CVE-2024-10389Shared CWE-22
CVE-2023-41780Shared CWE-22
CVE-2024-0980Shared CWE-22

Affected Assets

zoom
meeting software development kit
≤ 5.16.5
zoom
video software development kit
≤ 5.16.5
zoom
virtual desktop infrastructure
≤ 5.14.14 · 5.15.0 — 5.15.12
zoom
zoom
≤ 5.16.5

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-22

Validates pathnames and filenames to prevent traversal outside intended directories.

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.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Patching/maintenance can remediate known path-traversal flaws in deployed software (partial prevention of exploitability) but does nothing to stop the coding defect from being introduced in the first place.

PR.AA-05 none match
prevents

PR.AA-05 defines and reviews access policies but does not address code-level pathname neutralization, so neither direction prevents CWE-22.

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.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure SDLC mandates input validation and path sanitization that directly prevent path traversal.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements include rules for safe file handling and canonicalization.

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.

References