CVE-2023-31175
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 Execution with Unnecessary Privileges vulnerability in the Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories SEL-5037 SEL Grid Configurator could allow an attacker to run system commands with the highest level privilege on the system. See Instruction Manual Appendix A and Appendix E dated 20230615 for more details. This issue affects SEL-5037 SEL Grid Configurator: before 4.5.0.20.
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 SEL-5037 SEL Grid Configurator contains a vulnerability allowing execution with unnecessary privileges (likely SYSTEM/root level). An attacker can leverage this flaw to run arbitrary system commands with the highest privilege level, potentially achieving full system compromise.
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< 4.5.0.20CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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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Find SEL Grid Configurator installationSearch for SEL Grid Configurator installation directory or check Program Files/Program Files (x86) folders for 'SEL' or 'SEL Grid Configurator' subfolders. On Windows, also check Add/Remove Programs or the Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall for entries containing 'SEL Grid Configurator'.Affected if The software is found installed on the system
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Determine installed versionLocate the main executable (typically named selgridconfigurator.exe, selgrid.exe, or similar) and check its version properties. Right-click the executable in Windows Explorer, select Properties, then view the Details tab. Alternatively, run 'Get-ItemProperty' in PowerShell on the executable path to retrieve the VersionInfo.Affected if The installed version is below 4.5.0.20, or version information cannot be obtained (which may indicate an older unpatched build)
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Identify service or startup configurationCheck if SEL Grid Configurator runs as a Windows service or is configured to start automatically. Use Services.msc to look for services related to 'SEL' or 'Grid Configurator'. Also check the Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run for autorun entries.Affected if The application is configured to run as a service or auto-start with elevated privileges
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Check process execution contextWhen the application is running, use Task Manager or PowerShell (Get-Process) to examine the user context of the selgridconfigurator process. Look at the 'User Name' column in Task Manager Details tab, or run 'Get-Process -Name *selgrid* | Select-Object ProcessName, @{N='User';E={(Get-CimInstance Win32_Process -Filter "ProcessId=$($_.Id)").GetOwner().User}}'Affected if The process runs under SYSTEM, LocalSystem, or root user account rather than a standard user or service account with limited privileges
The system is affected if SEL Grid Configurator is installed with a version below 4.5.0.20 and runs with SYSTEM or root-level privileges, enabling 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 · scoped4.5.0.20
Upgrade SEL-5037 SEL Grid Configurator to version 4.5.0.20 or later to remediate this vulnerability.
4.5.0.20
- Obtain SEL Grid Configurator version 4.5.0.20 or later from the official SEL website (selinc.com) or your authorized SEL representative
- Back up all existing SEL Grid Configurator project files and configurations before proceeding with the upgrade
- Uninstall the current version of SEL-5037 SEL Grid Configurator from the system
- Install the updated version 4.5.0.20 using the vendor's standard installation procedure
- After installation, verify that the version number displays as 4.5.0.20 or later in the application
- Test that normal Grid Configurator operations function correctly after the upgrade
- Confirm the vulnerability is remediated by ensuring the application no longer runs system commands with elevated privileges
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-31175 — 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-2023-31175 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
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