CVE-2023-36493
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 · uneditedUncontrolled search path in some Intel(R) SDK for OpenCL(TM) Applications software may allow an authenticated user to potentially enable escalation of privilege via local access.
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 confidenceIntel SDK for OpenCL Applications contains an uncontrolled search path vulnerability where the application may load malicious DLLs or libraries from attacker-controlled locations. This allows an authenticated local user to perform DLL hijacking and escalate privileges to higher permission levels on the system.
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 dataall versionsCVSS 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.
-
Confirm Intel SDK for OpenCL installationCheck for the presence of Intel OpenCL SDK directories or installed software. Common locations include C:\Program Files\Intel\OpenCL SDK or C:\Program Files (x86)\Intel\OpenCL SDK. On Linux, check /opt/intel/opencl or /usr/local/intel/opencl. Use registry search or package manager to verify installation.Affected if Intel Software Development Kit for OpenCL is present on the system regardless of version (all versions are affected).
-
Identify DLL search path configurationExamine the PATH environment variable and any application-specific path configurations. Check the OpenCL SDK configuration files for defined library search paths. Look for paths defined in environment variables, configuration files, or system DLL search order.Affected if The SDK uses directories in its search path that are not owned by a trusted administrator or are world-writable.
-
Check for writable directories in search pathsReview each directory in the PATH variable and the SDK's bin/lib directories. Use access control checks (icacls on Windows, ls -la on Linux) to identify directories where non-privileged users have write permissions. Focus on directories the OpenCL runtime will search when loading libraries.Affected if Any directory in the DLL search path is writable by an unprivileged or untrusted user, allowing DLL hijacking.
-
Verify application binary locationsLocate the main OpenCL runtime executables (commonly oclgrind, openclinfo, or Intel's OpenCL runtime DLLs like intelocl.dll or tbb.dll). Check the directory permissions on these binaries and their parent folders.Affected if The directories containing OpenCL executables or DLLs have weak permissions allowing modification by untrusted users.
If Intel Software Development Kit for OpenCL is installed and any directory in its DLL search path is writable by unprivileged users, the system is vulnerable to DLL hijacking and privilege escalation via this CVE.
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.
From vendor dataApply Intel's official patch or update to the SDK for OpenCL Applications when available. Until then, ensure only trusted libraries are in application-accessible paths and restrict write access to directories in the application search path.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 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 $1,744.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-36493 — 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-2023-36493 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