CVE-2023-2818
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 · uneditedAn insecure filesystem permission in the Insider Threat Management Agent for Windows enables local unprivileged users to disrupt agent monitoring. All versions prior to 7.14.3 are affected. Agents for MacOS and Linux and Cloud are unaffected.
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 confidenceThe Insider Threat Management Agent for Windows prior to version 7.14.3 has insecure filesystem permissions that allow local unprivileged users to modify or delete agent files, enabling them to disrupt or disable the monitoring functionality.
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< 7.14.3CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the installed version of the Proofpoint Insider Threat Management AgentCheck the Windows registry at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Proofpoint\Insider Threat Management\Agent for the Version value, or right-click the agent executable in the installation folder and view Properties > DetailsAffected if The installed version is lower than 7.14.3
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Locate the agent installation directoryCommon paths include C:\Program Files\Proofpoint\Insider Threat Management\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Proofpoint\Insider Threat Management\. Check the registry key InstallPath for the exact location.Affected if The directory exists and contains agent files
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Verify filesystem permissions on the agent directoryRight-click the installation folder, go to Properties > Security, and examine the permissions for Users or authenticated users group. Alternatively, run 'icacls "<agent_folder>"' from an elevated command prompt.Affected if Users or non-privileged accounts have Modify, Write, or Full Control permissions on the agent folder or its subfolders
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Test write access to agent files as a non-administratorLog in as a standard user (or use 'runas /user:standard_user cmd') and attempt to create, modify, or delete a file in the agent installation folder, such as creating a test text file.Affected if The operation succeeds without access denied errors
You are affected if the Proofpoint Insider Threat Management Agent version is below 7.14.3 AND non-privileged users have write permissions to the agent installation directory.
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 · scoped7.14.3
Upgrade the Insider Threat Management Agent for Windows to version 7.14.3 or later to obtain corrected filesystem permissions that restrict agent files from modification by non-privileged users.
7.14.3
- 1. Verify the current version of the Insider Threat Management Agent for Windows installed on affected systems
- 2. Download the Insider Threat Management Agent version 7.14.3 or later from the official Proofpoint vendor source
- 3. Follow the standard agent upgrade procedure provided by Proofpoint documentation
- 4. After upgrade, verify the new version is running (7.14.3 or later)
- 5. Confirm that filesystem permissions on agent directories have been corrected and unprivileged users can no longer disrupt monitoring
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-2818 — 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-2023-2818 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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- 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
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