Vulnerability DatabaseCVE-2023-21815

CVE-2023-21815:
vulnerability analysis and mitigation

Overview

Visual Studio Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (CVE-2023-21815) was discovered and disclosed in December 2022. The vulnerability affects multiple versions of Microsoft Visual Studio, including Visual Studio 2017 (versions 15.0 to 15.9.52), Visual Studio 2019 (versions 16.0 to 16.11.24), and Visual Studio 2022 (various versions including 17.0 to 17.0.19, 17.2 to 17.2.13, and 17.4 to 17.4.5) (NVD).

Technical details

The vulnerability exists when Microsoft Visual Studio incorrectly handles debug information. It has been assigned a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 (High), with the following vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. The vulnerability has been classified under CWE-191 (Integer Underflow) by Microsoft Corporation (NVD).

Impact

This vulnerability could allow an attacker to execute remote code on affected systems if successfully exploited. The high CVSS score indicates potential severe impacts on system confidentiality, integrity, and availability (NVD).

Mitigation and workarounds

Microsoft has released security updates to address this vulnerability. Users are advised to install the updates through Microsoft Update or download the standalone package from the Microsoft Update Catalog. For Visual Studio 2015 Update 3, the security update package (KB5025792) is available and should be installed with Visual Studio closed to ensure proper update application (Microsoft Support).