Unison SoftwareApplication · Intel

CVE-2023-22448

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-11-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 20.14.2.3053 / 20.14.4244 or later.
See remediation →
78/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable 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
Improper access control for some Intel Unison software may allow a privileged user to potentially enable escalation of privilege via network 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

Intel Unison software has an improper access control vulnerability where a privileged user with network access can potentially escalate their privileges. The vulnerability stems from insufficient access control checks in the software, allowing a user with existing privileges to gain higher-level access beyond what they should have.

MitigationApply the Intel Unison software update or patch provided by Intel to address the improper access control vulnerability. Verify that network access controls are properly configured to limit exposure.

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
Unison SoftwareApplication
Affected:< 20.14.5683.0< 20.14.4244< 20.14.2.3053

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/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. Verify Intel Unison software is installed
    Check for Intel Unison in the system registry (Windows: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Intel\Unison or HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Intel\Unison), or look for the Unison application in Program Files. On Linux, check /opt/intel/unison or similar installation directories.
    Affected if Intel Unison software is present on the system
  2. Identify the installed Intel Unison version
    Open Intel Unison and navigate to Help > About, or check the version in the Windows registry under the Unison installation key, or examine the uninstall entry in Programs and Features.
    Affected if The version number cannot be determined or is below 20.14.5683.0, 20.14.4244, or 20.14.2.3053 (the exact version depends on the release branch)
  3. Compare installed version against affected ranges
    Compare the identified version string to the affected ranges: versions prior to 20.14.5683.0, versions prior to 20.14.4244, or versions prior to 20.14.2.3053 are vulnerable.
    Affected if The installed version falls within any of the affected version ranges (any version < 20.14.5683.0, < 20.14.4244, or < 20.14.2.3053)
  4. Assess network accessibility of the Intel Unison service
    Determine if the Intel Unison service is configured to listen on network interfaces (as opposed to localhost only). Check Windows service configuration or any network binding settings within the Unison application.
    Affected if The Intel Unison service is network-accessible and accepts connections from other systems

A system is affected if Intel Unison is installed with a version prior to 20.14.5683.0 (or the applicable threshold for its release branch) AND the service is accessible over the network to privileged users.

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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 20.14.2.3053 / 20.14.4244 / 20.14.5683.0 or later
Fixed in 20.14.2.305320.14.424420.14.5683.0
Interim mitigation

Apply the Intel Unison software update or patch provided by Intel to address the improper access control vulnerability. Verify that network access controls are properly configured to limit exposure.

Fix this in Unison Software Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,088.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-22448 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

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-2023-22448 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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