dbcve.org
Thunderbolt Dch DriverApplication · Intel

CVE-2023-22293

HIGH · 8.2 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-02-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 88 or later.
See remediation →
82/100
Remediation priority · High

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
Improper access control in the Intel(R) Thunderbolt(TM) DCH drivers for Windows may allow an authenticated user to potentially enable escalation of privilege via local access.

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 · moderate confidence

Improper access control in the Intel(R) Thunderbolt(TM) DCH drivers for Windows allows an authenticated local user to escalate privileges due to insufficient access restrictions in the driver software.

MitigationApply the Intel-provided driver update for Thunderbolt DCH drivers to remediate the access control vulnerability; verify functionality post-update.

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
Thunderbolt Dch DriverApplication
Affected:< 88

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
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/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. Confirm Intel Thunderbolt DCH driver is installed
    Open Device Manager, expand 'System devices', look for 'Intel(R) Thunderbolt(TM) DCH Driver' or similar Thunderbolt DCH driver entry. Alternatively, run 'Get-PnpDevice -Class System' in PowerShell and filter for Thunderbolt entries.
    Affected if The driver is present on the system
  2. Identify the installed driver version
    Right-click the Thunderbolt DCH driver in Device Manager, select Properties, go to the Driver tab, and note the Driver Version. Alternatively, run 'driverquery /v | findstr -i thunderbolt' from an elevated command prompt.
    Affected if The displayed version number is below 88 (e.g., 87.x, 86.x, etc.)
  3. Verify Thunderbolt controller is enabled
    Open Device Manager, expand 'Universal Serial Bus controllers', check if 'Intel(R) Thunderbolt(TM) Controller' is present and enabled. Also check Device Manager for any disabled Thunderbolt-related devices.
    Affected if Thunderbolt hardware is present and enabled, indicating the attack surface exists
  4. Confirm the driver is loaded and running
    Open Services (services.msc) and check for any Intel Thunderbolt-related services, or run 'Get-Service | Where-Object {$_.DisplayName -like "*Thunderbolt*"}' in PowerShell.
    Affected if The Thunderbolt driver service is running (indicating active exposure)
  5. Check current user privileges
    Run 'whoami /priv' in command prompt to see current user privileges. This CVE allows privilege escalation from authenticated local user, so any local user account is potentially affected.
    Affected if The user has any local account access (even standard user) on the system with the vulnerable driver

If the Intel Thunderbolt DCH Driver is installed, running, and its version is below 88, the system is affected by this privilege escalation vulnerability.

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 88 or later
Fixed in 88
Interim mitigation

Apply the Intel-provided driver update for Thunderbolt DCH drivers to remediate the access control vulnerability; verify functionality post-update.

Recommended fix High confidence

Intel Thunderbolt DCH Driver version 88 or later for Windows

  1. Visit the Intel Support website and download the Intel Thunderbolt DCH Driver for Windows version 88 or later
  2. Locate the downloaded installer file and run it as Administrator
  3. Follow the on-screen installation wizard prompts to complete the driver update
  4. Restart the computer when prompted to ensure the new driver loads properly
  5. Verify the installed driver version by opening Device Manager, expanding the 'System devices' category, right-clicking on 'Intel(R) Thunderbolt(TM)', selecting 'Properties', and checking the driver version

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

Fix this in Thunderbolt Dch Driver Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,408.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-22293 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2023-22293 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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