CVE-2023-25535
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 · uneditedDell SupportAssist for Home PCs Installer Executable file version prior to 3.13.2.19 used for initial installation has a high vulnerability that can result in local privilege escalation (LPE). This vulnerability only affects first-time installations done prior to 8th March 2023
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 confidenceDell SupportAssist for Home PCs installer executable versions prior to 3.13.2.19 contain a local privilege escalation vulnerability. This flaw allows an attacker with local access to gain elevated (administrator/system) privileges during the initial installation process. Only first-time installations performed before March 8, 2023 are affected.
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< 3.13.2.19CVSS 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
- High
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Check if Dell SupportAssist for Home PCs is installedOpen Windows Programs and Features (appwiz.cpl) or check the Windows registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall for an entry named Dell SupportAssist for Home PCsAffected if The program is not listed in installed programs, meaning it was never installed or has been completely removed
-
Determine the installed version of Dell SupportAssistIf installed, right-click the Dell SupportAssist entry in Programs and Features and select Properties, or check the Version value in the registry key found in the previous stepAffected if The version displayed is less than 3.13.2.19 (for example, 3.13.2.0 through 3.13.2.18)
-
Determine the first-time installation dateCheck the Windows installer log files in %TEMP% for dates around the initial installation, or check the original install timestamp in the registry under the Uninstall key (InstallDate value)Affected if The initial installation was performed prior to March 8, 2023 AND the version is below 3.13.2.19
-
Verify if this was a first-time installationExamine installer logs or the original installation media used. If the system was imaged or deployed with SupportAssist pre-installed after March 8, 2023, it is not a first-time installation from the vulnerable periodAffected if The first-time installation occurred before March 8, 2023 using a version prior to 3.13.2.19
A system is affected if Dell SupportAssist for Home PCs was first-time installed prior to March 8, 2023 using any version below 3.13.2.19.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped3.13.2.19
Organizations should ensure that any future first-time installations of Dell SupportAssist use version 3.13.2.19 or later. Existing installations that were performed after the vulnerable period are not affected.
Dell SupportAssist for Home PCs version 3.13.2.19 or later
- 1. Navigate to Dell's official support website for SupportAssist for Home PCs
- 2. Download the latest version of Dell SupportAssist for Home PCs installer (version 3.13.2.19 or later)
- 3. Run the installer with appropriate administrative privileges
- 4. Follow the on-screen installation prompts to complete the upgrade
- 5. Verify the installed version matches or exceeds 3.13.2.19
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,696.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-25535 — 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 sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-25535 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
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.
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.
- 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