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ZoomApplication

CVE-2023-22881

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-03-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.13.5 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
Zoom clients before version 5.13.5 contain a STUN parsing vulnerability. A malicious actor could send specially crafted UDP traffic to a victim Zoom client to remotely cause the client to crash, causing a denial of service.

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

Zoom clients before version 5.13.5 contain a STUN (Session Traversal Utilities for NAT) protocol parsing vulnerability. An unauthenticated remote attacker can send specially crafted UDP packets to a victim's machine to trigger a parsing error causing the client to crash, resulting in denial of service.

MitigationUpgrade all Zoom client installations to version 5.13.5 or later. Since STUN uses UDP, consider restricting inbound UDP traffic at the network perimeter as an additional layer of defense until clients are patched.

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
ZoomApplication
Affected:< 5.13.5

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
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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. Identify Zoom client version
    Open the Zoom desktop client, then go to Help > About Zoom to view the installed version number. Alternatively, check your system's installed programs list (Windows: Programs and Features, macOS: Applications folder).
    Affected if The version displayed is lower than 5.13.5 (for example, 5.13.0, 5.12.10, etc.)
  2. Confirm STUN protocol usage is active
    Verify that the Zoom client has connectivity features enabled that rely on STUN for NAT traversal. This is typically active by default for peer-to-peer connections and small group meetings. Check client settings under Settings > Video > HD and Settings > Audio to ensure standard calling features are not disabled.
    Affected if Standard video/audio calling features are enabled, which causes the client to use STUN for connection setup.
  3. Assess network exposure to UDP
    Determine if the host running the Zoom client is reachable via UDP on typical STUN ports (3478, 3479). You can check this by examining firewall rules or network configuration. On Windows, run 'netsh advfirewall firewall show rule name=all' or check router/firewall port forwards.
    Affected if Inbound UDP traffic on STUN ports (3478/3479) is permitted through any firewall or router to the client machine.

You are affected if your installed Zoom client version is below 5.13.5 AND the client uses standard calling features that engage STUN protocol, AND your machine is reachable via inbound UDP traffic.

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 5.13.5 or later
Fixed in 5.13.5
Interim mitigation

Upgrade all Zoom client installations to version 5.13.5 or later. Since STUN uses UDP, consider restricting inbound UDP traffic at the network perimeter as an additional layer of defense until clients are patched.

Recommended fix High confidence

5.13.5

  1. 1. Open the Zoom desktop client application
  2. 2. Click on your profile picture or initials in the top-right corner
  3. 3. Select 'Check for Updates' from the dropdown menu
  4. 4. If an update is available, click 'Update' to download and install the latest version
  5. 5. Alternatively, download the latest Zoom client version directly from the official Zoom website (zoom.us)
  6. 6. Restart the Zoom client after the update completes
  7. 7. Verify the installed version by clicking on your profile picture and selecting 'About Zoom' to confirm version 5.13.5 or later is installed

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

Fix this in Zoom Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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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-2023-22881 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