CVE-2023-21808: .NET and Visual Studio Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Overview

Severity

High (CVSS 8.4)

CVSS Vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C

Category

Remote Code Execution

Exploit Status

Not Exploited

Exploitation Likelihood

Less Likely

Patch Tuesday

2023-Feb

Released

2023-02-14

Last Updated

2023-06-30

EPSS Score

1.28% (percentile: 79.6%)

FAQ

According to the CVSS metric, the attack vector is local (AV:L). Why does the CVE title indicate that this is a remote code execution? The word Remote in the title refers to the location of the attacker. This type of exploit is sometimes referred to as Arbitrary Code Execution (ACE). The attack itself is carried out locally. This means an attacker or victim needs to execute code from the local machine to exploit the vulnerability. According to the CVSS metrics, there are multiple scores. Why does the CVE have different scores and different severities for different products? There are different scores depending on the product due to the way symbols are read and parsed. Visual Studio has the ability to automatically query symbol servers while .NET only uses symbols present on the disk, requiring the user to manually query the symbol.

Affected Products (71)

Developer Tools

• Microsoft Visual Studio 2019 version 16.11 (includes 16.0 - 16.10)
• Microsoft Visual Studio 2022 version 17.0
• Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 version 15.9 (includes 15.0 - 15.8)
• Microsoft Visual Studio 2022 version 17.4
• Microsoft Visual Studio 2022 version 17.2
• Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 Update 3
• Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 Update 5
• .NET 7.0
• .NET 6.0
• PowerShell 7.2
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8 on Windows 10 Version 1809 for 32-bit Systems
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8 on Windows Server 2022
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8 on Windows Server 2019 (Server Core installation)
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8 on Windows 10 Version 20H2 for ARM64-based Systems
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8 on Windows 10 Version 20H2 for 32-bit Systems
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8 on Windows 11 version 21H2 for x64-based Systems
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8 on Windows 10 Version 21H2 for ARM64-based Systems
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8 on Windows 11 version 21H2 for ARM64-based Systems
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8 on Windows 10 Version 21H2 for x64-based Systems
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8 on Windows 10 Version 21H2 for 32-bit Systems
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.7.2 on Windows 10 Version 1809 for 32-bit Systems
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.7.2 on Windows 10 Version 1809 for ARM64-based Systems
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.7.2 on Windows 10 Version 1809 for x64-based Systems
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.7.2 on Windows Server 2019
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.7.2 on Windows Server 2019 (Server Core installation)
• Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.2/4.7/4.7.1/4.7.2 on Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1 (Server Core installation)
• Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.2/4.7/4.7.1/4.7.2 on Windows Server 2012 (Server Core installation)
• Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.2/4.7/4.7.1/4.7.2 on Windows Server 2012
• Microsoft .NET Framework 4.8 on Windows Server 2012 R2 (Server Core installation)
• Microsoft .NET Framework 4.8 on Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8 on Windows Server 2022 (Server Core installation)
• Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.2/4.7/4.7.1/4.7.2 on Windows Server 2012 R2 (Server Core installation)
• Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.2/4.7/4.7.1/4.7.2 on Windows Server 2012 R2
• Microsoft .NET Framework 4.8 on Windows Server 2012 R2
• Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.2/4.7/4.7.1/4.7.2 on Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1
• Microsoft .NET Framework 4.8 on Windows Server 2012 (Server Core installation)
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8.1 on Windows Server 2022 (Server Core installation)
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8.1 on Windows Server 2022
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8.1 on Windows 10 Version 20H2 for 32-bit Systems
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8.1 on Windows 10 Version 20H2 for ARM64-based Systems
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8.1 on Windows 11 version 21H2 for x64-based Systems
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8.1 on Windows 10 Version 21H2 for 32-bit Systems
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8.1 on Windows 11 version 21H2 for ARM64-based Systems
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8.1 on Windows 10 Version 21H2 for ARM64-based Systems
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8.1 on Windows 10 Version 21H2 for x64-based Systems
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8.1 on Windows 11 Version 22H2 for ARM64-based Systems
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8.1 on Windows 11 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8.1 on Windows 10 Version 22H2 for ARM64-based Systems
• Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8.1 on Windows 10 Version 22H2 for 32-bit Systems
• Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.2 on Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2
• ... and 21 more

Security Updates (34)

• Release Notes
• Release Notes
• Release Notes
• Release Notes
• Release Notes
• 5025792
• 5026610
• 5023286
• 5023288
• Release Notes
• 5022782
• 5022735
• 5022727
• 5022730
• 5022782
• 5022731
• 5022783
• 5022732
• 5022784
• 5022733
• 5022785
• 5022731
• 5022783
• 5022733
• 5022785
• 5022732
• 5022784
• 5022735
• 5022727
• 5022730
• ... and 4 more

Acknowledgments

goodbyeselene, goodbyeselene

Revision History

• 2023-02-14: Information published.
• 2023-02-24: Revised the Security Updates table to include PowerShell 7.2 because this version of PowerShell 7 is affected by this vulnerability. See https://github.com/PowerShell/Announcements/issues/38 for more information.
• 2023-03-29: Microsoft has rereleased KB5022498 to address a known issue where customers who installed the .NET Framework 4.8 February cumulative update (KB5022502), then updgraded to .NET Framework 4.8.1 and subsequently scanned for updates were unable to install KB5022498. Customers who were unable to install KB5022498 should rescan for updates and install the update. Customers who have already successfully installed KB5022498 do not need to take any further action.
• 2023-06-13: In the Security Updates table, added Visual Studio 2013 Update 5 and Visual Studio 2015 Update 3 as they are affected by this vulnerability. Microsoft strongly recommends that customers install the updates to be fully protected from the vulnerability.
• 2023-06-30: To address a known issue when after installing the February 14, 2023, security updates for .NET Framework and .NET, users may have experienced issues with how WPF-based applications render XPS documents, Microsoft has released the June 2023 security updates for .NET Framework and for .NET. We recommend that customers install the June 2023 updates. Please note that if you used any workaround or mitigations for this issue, they are no longer needed, and we recommend you remove them. To remove either of the workarounds see the instructions for removal in the "Alternative Workaround" section of KB5022083 Change in how WPF-based applications render XPS documents.