Visual Studio Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

CVE-2023-36793

Security Vulnerability

Released: Sep 12, 2023

Last updated: Dec 12, 2023

Assigning CNA: Microsoft

CVE.org link: CVE-2023-36793

Impact: Remote Code Execution

Max Severity: Critical

Weakness: CWE-122: Heap-based Buffer Overflow

CVSS Source: Microsoft

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

Metrics: CVSS:3.1 7.8 / 6.8

Metric

Value

Base score metrics(8)

Attack Vector

This metric reflects the context by which vulnerability exploitation is possible. The Base Score increases the more remote (logically, and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerable component.

Local

The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document)

Attack Complexity

This metric describes the conditions beyond the attacker’s control that must exist in order to exploit the vulnerability. Such conditions may require the collection of more information about the target or computational exceptions. The assessment of this metric excludes any requirements for user interaction in order to exploit the vulnerability. If a specific configuration is required for an attack to succeed, the Base metrics should be scored assuming the vulnerable component is in that configuration.

Low

Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.

Privileges Required

This metric describes the level of privileges an attacker must possess before successfully exploiting the vulnerability.

None

The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.

User Interaction

This metric captures the requirement for a user, other than the attacker, to participate in the successful compromise the vulnerable component. This metric determines whether the vulnerability can be exploited solely at the will of the attacker, or whether a separate user (or user-initiated process) must participate in some manner.

Required

Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.

Scope

Does a successful attack impact a component other than the vulnerable component? If so, the Base Score increases and the Confidentiality, Integrity and Authentication metrics should be scored relative to the impacted component.

Unchanged

An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.

Confidentiality

This metric measures the impact to the confidentiality of the information resources managed by a software component due to a successfully exploited vulnerability. Confidentiality refers to limiting information access and disclosure to only authorized users, as well as preventing access by, or disclosure to, unauthorized ones.

High

There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.

Integrity

This metric measures the impact to integrity of a successfully exploited vulnerability. Integrity refers to the trustworthiness and veracity of information.

High

There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.

Availability

This metric measures the impact to the availability of the impacted component resulting from a successfully exploited vulnerability. It refers to the loss of availability of the impacted component itself, such as a networked service (e.g., web, database, email). Since availability refers to the accessibility of information resources, attacks that consume network bandwidth, processor cycles, or disk space all impact the availability of an impacted component.

High

There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Temporal score metrics(3)

Exploit Code Maturity

This metric measures the likelihood of the vulnerability being attacked, and is typically based on the current state of exploit techniques, public availability of exploit code, or active, 'in-the-wild' exploitation.

Unproven

No publicly available exploit code is available, or an exploit is theoretical.

Remediation Level

The Remediation Level of a vulnerability is an important factor for prioritization. The typical vulnerability is unpatched when initially published. Workarounds or hotfixes may offer interim remediation until an official patch or upgrade is issued. Each of these respective stages adjusts the temporal score downwards, reflecting the decreasing urgency as remediation becomes final.

Official Fix

A complete vendor solution is available. Either the vendor has issued an official patch, or an upgrade is available.

Report Confidence

This metric measures the degree of confidence in the existence of the vulnerability and the credibility of the known technical details. Sometimes only the existence of vulnerabilities are publicized, but without specific details. For example, an impact may be recognized as undesirable, but the root cause may not be known. The vulnerability may later be corroborated by research which suggests where the vulnerability may lie, though the research may not be certain. Finally, a vulnerability may be confirmed through acknowledgement by the author or vendor of the affected technology. The urgency of a vulnerability is higher when a vulnerability is known to exist with certainty. This metric also suggests the level of technical knowledge available to would-be attackers.

Confirmed

Detailed reports exist, or functional reproduction is possible (functional exploits may provide this). Source code is available to independently verify the assertions of the research, or the author or vendor of the affected code has confirmed the presence of the vulnerability.

Please see Common Vulnerability Scoring System for more information on the definition of these metrics.

Exploitability

The following table provides an exploitability assessment for this vulnerability at the time of original publication.

Publicly disclosed: No
Exploited: No
Exploitability assessment: Exploitation Less Likely

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 metric, user interaction is required (UI:R). What interaction would the user have to do?

Exploitation of this vulnerability requires that an attacker convinces a user to open a maliciously crafted package file in Visual Studio.

Acknowledgements

goodbyeselene

Microsoft recognizes the efforts of those in the security community who help us protect customers through coordinated vulnerability disclosure. See Acknowledgements for more information.

Security Updates

To determine the support lifecycle for your software, see the Microsoft Support Lifecycle.

Release date Descending

Release date

Product

Platform

Impact

Max Severity

Article

Download

Build Number

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5.1

Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1 (Server Core installation)

Remote Code Execution

Important

5030182

Monthly Rollup

3.0.30729.8957

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.2/4.7/4.7.1/4.7.2

Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1 (Server Core installation)

Remote Code Execution

Important

5030182

Monthly Rollup

4.7.04063.01

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 4.8

Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1 (Server Core installation)

Remote Code Execution

Important

5030182

Monthly Rollup

4.8.04667.02

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 and 4.6.2

Windows 10 for x64-based Systems

Remote Code Execution

Critical

5030220

Security Update

10.0.10240.20162

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 and 4.6.2

Windows 10 for 32-bit Systems

Remote Code Execution

Critical

5030220

Security Update

10.0.10240.20162

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.6.2/4.7/4.7.1/4.7.2

Windows 10 Version 1607 for x64-based Systems

Remote Code Execution

Critical

5030213

Security Update

10.0.14393.6252

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.6.2/4.7/4.7.1/4.7.2

Windows 10 Version 1607 for 32-bit Systems

Remote Code Execution

Critical

5030213

Security Update

10.0.14393.6252

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.6.2/4.7/4.7.1/4.7.2

Windows Server 2016 (Server Core installation)

Remote Code Execution

Critical

5030213

Security Update

10.0.14393.6252

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.6.2/4.7/4.7.1/4.7.2

Windows Server 2016

Remote Code Execution

Critical

5030213

Security Update

10.0.14393.6252

Sep 12, 2023

PowerShell 7.2

Remote Code Execution

Important

Release Notes

Security Update

7.2.12

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8

Windows Server 2019 (Server Core installation)

Remote Code Execution

Important

5030178

Security Update

4.8.04667.03

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8

Windows 10 Version 1809 for 32-bit Systems

Remote Code Execution

Important

5030178

Security Update

4.8.04667.03

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5.1

Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1

Remote Code Execution

Important

5030182

Monthly Rollup

3.0.30729.8957

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5

Windows Server 2012 R2 (Server Core installation)

Remote Code Execution

Important

5030184

Monthly Rollup

3.0.30729.8957

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5

Windows Server 2012 R2

Remote Code Execution

Important

5030184

Monthly Rollup

3.0.30729.8957

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5

Windows Server 2012 (Server Core installation)

Remote Code Execution

Important

5030183

Monthly Rollup

3.0.30729.8957

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5

Windows Server 2012

Remote Code Execution

Important

5030183

Monthly Rollup

3.0.30729.8957

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 Service Pack 2

Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2

Remote Code Execution

Important

5030185

Monthly Rollup

3.0.30729.8957

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 Service Pack 2

Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2

Remote Code Execution

Important

5030185

Monthly Rollup

3.0.30729.8957

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 2

Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2

Remote Code Execution

Important

5030185

Monthly Rollup

3.0.30729.8957

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Service Pack 2

Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2

Remote Code Execution

Important

5030185

Monthly Rollup

3.0.30729.8957

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8.1

Windows 11 Version 22H2 for ARM64-based Systems

Remote Code Execution

Important

5031217

Security Update

4.8.09186.0

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.2

Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2 (Server Core installation)

Remote Code Execution

Important

5030185

Monthly Rollup

4.7.04063.01

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.2

Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2

Remote Code Execution

Important

5030185

Monthly Rollup

4.7.04063.01

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.2

Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2

Remote Code Execution

Important

5030185

Monthly Rollup

4.7.04063.01

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.2

Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2 (Server Core installation)

Remote Code Execution

Important

5030185

Monthly Rollup

4.7.04063.01

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8.1

Windows 10 Version 22H2 for 32-bit Systems

Remote Code Execution

Important

5030180

Security Update

4.8.09186.01

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8.1

Windows 11 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems

Remote Code Execution

Important

5031217

Security Update

4.8.09186.0

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8.1

Windows 10 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems

Remote Code Execution

Important

5030180

Security Update

4.8.09186.01

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8.1

Windows 10 Version 22H2 for ARM64-based Systems

Remote Code Execution

Important

5030180

Security Update

4.8.09186.01

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8.1

Windows 10 Version 21H2 for x64-based Systems

Remote Code Execution

Important

5030179

Security Update

4.8.09186.01

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8.1

Windows 11 version 21H2 for x64-based Systems

Remote Code Execution

Important

5030181

Security Update

4.8.09186.01

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8.1

Windows 11 version 21H2 for ARM64-based Systems

Remote Code Execution

Important

5030181

Security Update

4.8.09186.01

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8.1

Windows 10 Version 21H2 for 32-bit Systems

Remote Code Execution

Important

5030179

Security Update

4.8.09186.01

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8.1

Windows 10 Version 21H2 for ARM64-based Systems

Remote Code Execution

Important

5030179

Security Update

4.8.09186.01

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.2/4.7/4.7.1/4.7.2

Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1

Remote Code Execution

Important

5030182

Monthly Rollup

4.7.04063.01

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8.1

Windows Server 2022 (Server Core installation)

Remote Code Execution

Important

5030186

Security Update

4.8.09186.01

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 4.8

Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1

Remote Code Execution

Important

5030182

Monthly Rollup

4.8.04667.02

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8.1

Windows Server 2022

Remote Code Execution

Important

5030186

Security Update

4.8.09186.01

Sep 12, 2023

Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.2/4.7/4.7.1/4.7.2

Windows Server 2012 R2 (Server Core installation)

Remote Code Execution

Important

5030184

Monthly Rollup

4.7.04063.02

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Disclaimer

The information provided in the Microsoft Knowledge Base is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. Microsoft disclaims all warranties, either express or implied, including the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall Microsoft Corporation or its suppliers be liable for any damages whatsoever including direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, loss of business profits or special damages, even if Microsoft Corporation or its suppliers have been advised of the possibility of such damages. Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages so the foregoing limitation may not apply.

Revisions

version

revisionDate

description

5.3

Dec 12, 2023

Microsoft is rereleasing KB5029365 to address the following known issue: Customers who are using Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 Update 5 might receive a "C2471" error after attempting to compile a build that has precompiled headers (PCH) that use the /Gm and /ZI (Edit and Continue) switches. Microsoft recommends that customers install the update and remove any workarounds that were applied. For more information see KB5029365.

5.2

Nov 14, 2023

Microsoft is rereleasing KB5029366 to address the following known issue: Customers who are using Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 Update 3 might receive a "C2471" error after attempting to compile a build that has precompiled headers (PCH) that use the /Gm and /ZI (Edit and Continue) switches. Microsoft recommends that customers install the update and remove any workarounds that were applied. For more information see KB5029366.

5.1

Nov 2, 2023

Corrected Download and Article links in the Security Updates table. This is an informational change only.

4.0

Oct 24, 2023

To comprehensively address this vulnerability, Microsoft has released security updates on October 24, 2023 for all affected versions of .NET and Microsoft Visual Studio. Microsoft recommends that customers install the updates to be fully protected from the vulnerability.

5.0

Oct 24, 2023

In the Security Updates table, added .NET Framework 3.5 and 4.6.2 installed on Windows 10 for 32-bit systems and Windows 10 for x64-based systems; added .NET Framework 3.5 and 4.6.2/4.7./4.7.1/4.7.2 installed on all supported editions of Windows 10 version 1607 and Windows Server 2016 as these versions of .NET Framework are affected by this vulnerability. Microsoft recommends that customers install the September 2023 updates to be fully protected from this vulnerability. Customers whose systems are configured to receive automatic updates do not need to take any further action.

3.0

Oct 10, 2023

In the Security Updates table, added Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 Update 5 and Visual Studio 2015 Update 3 as these versions of Visual Studio are also affected by the vulnerability. Microsoft recommends that customers running any of these products install the updates to be fully protected from the vulnerability.

2.1

Sep 26, 2023

In the Security Update table, corrected Article links for Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 AND 4.8.1 installed on Windows 11 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems and Windows 11 Version 22H2 for ARM64-based Systems. This is an informational change only.

2.0

Sep 20, 2023

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/50 for more information.

1.0

Sep 12, 2023

Information published.

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