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CloudflaredApplication · Cloudflare

CVE-2023-1314

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-03-21
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2023.3.1 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
A vulnerability has been discovered in cloudflared's installer (<= 2023.3.0) for Windows 32-bits devices that allows a local attacker with no administrative permissions to escalate their privileges on the affected device. This vulnerability exists because the MSI installer used by cloudflared relied on a world-writable directory. An attacker with local access to the device (without Administrator rights) can use symbolic links to trick the MSI installer into deleting files in locations that the attacker would otherwise have no access to. By creating a symlink from the world-writable directory to the target file, the attacker can manipulate the MSI installer's repair functionality to delete the target file during the repair process. Exploitation of this vulnerability could allow an attacker to delete important system files or replace them with malicious files, potentially leading to the affected device being compromised. The cloudflared client itself is not affected by this vulnerability, only the installer for 32-bit Windows devices.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Local privilege escalation vulnerability in cloudflared MSI installer for 32-bit Windows (versions 2023.3.0 and earlier). The installer relies on a world-writable directory, allowing an attacker to create symbolic links that manipulate the MSI repair functionality to delete or replace arbitrary files they lack permission to modify.

MitigationUpgrade cloudflared installer to a version newer than 2023.3.0 for 32-bit Windows systems; the cloudflared client itself is unaffected.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
CloudflaredApplication
Affected:< 2023.3.1

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check if running 32-bit Windows
    Run 'systeminfo' in command prompt and look for 'System Type: x86' (32-bit) or 'System Type: x64' (64-bit). Alternatively, check the Program Files folder - 32-bit apps on 64-bit Windows are in 'C:\Program Files (x86)\'
    Affected if System is 32-bit Windows (x86)
  2. Check if cloudflared was installed via MSI installer
    Check for cloudflared in Windows Installer logs (C:\Windows\Temp\MSI*.log) or look for cloudflared in Add/Remove Programs and note the installation method. Check C:\Program Files (x86)\cloudflared or C:\Program Files\cloudflared for installed files.
    Affected if cloudflared was installed using the MSI installer package on 32-bit Windows
  3. Determine installed cloudflared version
    Run 'cloudflared --version' in command prompt, or check the version in Add/Remove Programs, or inspect the file properties of the cloudflared.exe in the installation directory.
    Affected if Installed version is 2023.3.0 or earlier on 32-bit Windows with MSI installation
  4. Verify MSI installer was used (alternative check)
    Check the Windows Installer registry key at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{cloudflared GUID} for 'InstallerType' or look for evidence in C:\Windows\Temp of MSI installer logs containing 'cloudflared'
    Affected if MSI installer was the deployment method used

A 32-bit Windows system with cloudflared installed via MSI installer version 2023.3.0 or earlier is affected by this vulnerability in the installer.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 2023.3.1 or later
Fixed in 2023.3.1
Interim mitigation

Upgrade cloudflared installer to a version newer than 2023.3.0 for 32-bit Windows systems; the cloudflared client itself is unaffected.

Recommended fix High confidence

2023.3.1 or later

  1. Download cloudflared installer version 2023.3.1 or later from the official Cloudflare repository
  2. Verify the installer checksum if available
  3. Uninstall the vulnerable cloudflared version if currently installed
  4. Run the new installer with Administrator privileges to apply the updated version
  5. Verify the installation completed successfully

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Cloudflared Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,690
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-1314 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data