CVE-2023-26088
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 · uneditedIn Malwarebytes before 4.5.23, a symbolic link may be used delete any arbitrary file on the system by exploiting the local quarantine system. It can also lead to privilege escalation in certain scenarios.
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 confidenceA symbolic link vulnerability in Malwarebytes before version 4.5.23 allows attackers to delete arbitrary files on the system by exploiting the local quarantine system. This can lead to privilege escalation in certain configurations.
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< 4.5.23CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed Malwarebytes versionOpen Malwarebytes, go to Settings > About, or run 'mbam.exe /version' from the installation directory to retrieve the exact version numberAffected if version is below 4.5.23 (e.g., 4.5.22, 4.5.0, any 4.x version prior to 4.5.23)
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Verify quarantine feature is accessibleCheck if the Malwarebytes quarantine directory exists and is writable (typically %ProgramData%\Malwarebytes\MBAMService\ quarantine or within the installation folder)Affected if the quarantine directory is present and the user or process has write access to it
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Confirm symlink creation capabilityReview system permissions to determine if the user context running Malwarebytes can create symbolic links on the systemAffected if the account can create symlinks in the quarantine path or adjacent directories
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Identify exposed attack surfaceCheck if Malwarebytes runs with elevated privileges or if lower-privileged users can interact with the quarantine system (review service account and file permissions)Affected if Malwarebytes runs as SYSTEM or administrator and lower-privileged users can trigger quarantine operations
If Malwarebytes version is below 4.5.23 and the quarantine system is accessible to an attacker who can create symlinks, the environment is vulnerable to arbitrary file deletion and potential privilege escalation.
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 · scoped4.5.23
Update Malwarebytes to version 4.5.23 or later to remediate the vulnerability.
4.5.23 or later
- Open Malwarebytes and navigate to the Settings or About section to check the currently installed version
- If the version is below 4.5.23, download the latest version of Malwarebytes from the official website (www.malwarebytes.com)
- Run the installer and follow the on-screen prompts to update the software
- Restart the computer if prompted by the installer
- After updating, verify the version number is 4.5.23 or higher in the About/Settings section
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-26088 — 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-2023-26088 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
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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