Security Resilience

CVE-2023-53691

Published
22 October 2025
Modified
15 April 2026
CVSS Score v3.1 8.3
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L
EPSS Score 0.013 70th percentile
Risk Priority 63 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-2023-53691 is a high-severity Path Traversal: '../filedir' (CWE-24) vulnerability in Zhihu (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 8.3 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Protocol or Service Impersonation (T1001.003); ranked in the top 30% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and AC-3 (Access Enforcement) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Hikvision CSMP (Comprehensive Security Management Platform) iSecure Center through 2023-06-25 allows file upload via /center/api/files directory traversal, as exploited in the wild in 2024 and 2025.

CWE(s)
CWE-24

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001.003 Protocol or Service Impersonation Command And Control
Adversaries may impersonate legitimate protocols or web service traffic to disguise command and control activity and thwart analysis efforts.
attack.mitre.org →
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 →
T1006 Direct Volume Access Stealth
Adversaries may directly access a volume to bypass file access controls and file system monitoring.
attack.mitre.org →
T1008 Fallback Channels Command And Control
Adversaries may use fallback or alternate communication channels if the primary channel is compromised or inaccessible in order to maintain reliable command and control and to avoid data transfer thresholds.
attack.mitre.org →
T1012 Query Registry Discovery
Adversaries may interact with the Windows Registry to gather information about the system, configuration, and installed software.
attack.mitre.org →
T1014 Rootkit Stealth
Adversaries may use rootkits to hide the presence of programs, files, network connections, services, drivers, and other system components.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-92533Shared CWE-24
CVE-2023-7058Shared CWE-24
CVE-2025-32807Shared CWE-24
CVE-2023-3057Shared CWE-24
CVE-2023-7041Shared CWE-24
CVE-2023-7098Shared CWE-24
CVE-2025-51661Shared CWE-24
CVE-2025-61318Shared CWE-24
CVE-2025-56760Shared CWE-24
CVE-2026-44942Shared CWE-24

Affected Assets

Zhihu
—
inferred from references and description; NVD did not file a CPE for this CVE

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match

Input validation directly neutralizes '../' sequences in externally-supplied pathnames before they are resolved.

AC-3 Access Enforcement partial match

Enforced access authorizations can limit the damage even when path traversal succeeds.

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 partial match
blocks

Secure SDLC practices directly require input validation and path sanitization that prevent ../ traversal.

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.8.19 Installation of software on operational systems partial match
removes
A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
blocks

Secure SDLC mandates input validation and path canonicalization that directly block ../ traversal.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
blocks

Application security requirements explicitly call for controls against path traversal in file-handling functions.

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

A.8.27 mandates security-by-design principles (least privilege, default-deny, distrust-external-input, fail-securely, hardening, design review against attack patterns) that reach a minority slice of path-traversal defects when applied to input handling and directory restrictions; most instances remain possible if the specific neutralization is omitted.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards require neutralizing ../ sequences and canonicalizing paths before file operations.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance partial match
finds

Security testing in development catches path-traversal flaws before release.

References