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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 28 Dec 2023. Known ransomware use
Qlik SenseApplication · Qlik

CVE-2023-41266

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-08-29
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild Ransomware High EPSS Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
A path traversal vulnerability found in Qlik Sense Enterprise for Windows for versions May 2023 Patch 3 and earlier, February 2023 Patch 7 and earlier, November 2022 Patch 10 and earlier, and August 2022 Patch 12 and earlier allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to generate an anonymous session. This allows them to transmit HTTP requests to unauthorized endpoints. This is fixed in August 2023 IR, May 2023 Patch 4, February 2023 Patch 8, November 2022 Patch 11, and August 2022 Patch 13.

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 confidence

A path traversal vulnerability in Qlik Sense Enterprise for Windows allows unauthenticated remote attackers to generate anonymous sessions by exploiting the traversal, enabling them to send HTTP requests to unauthorized endpoints.

MitigationApply the appropriate patch for the installed version: May 2023 Patch 4, February 2023 Patch 8, November 2022 Patch 11, or August 2022 Patch 13 (or August 2023 IR).

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
Qlik SenseApplication
Affected:= august_2022= february_2023= may_2023= november_2022

CVSS 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
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify Qlik Sense version
    Open the Qlik Management Console (QMC) and navigate to About Qlik Sense, or check the Windows installed programs list to locate the exact version and patch level of Qlik Sense Enterprise
    Affected if The installed version matches August 2022, November 2022, February 2023, or May 2023 without the corresponding security patches applied
  2. Verify patch installation status
    Check the QMC System info or Windows Programs and Features for the installed patch level. Compare against the required patches: August 2022 Patch 13, November 2022 Patch 11, February 2023 Patch 8, or May 2023 Patch 4
    Affected if The installed patch version is lower than the required patch for your version branch, indicating the vulnerability is not remediated
  3. Assess network exposure of Qlik Sense
    Determine if the Qlik Sense proxy service (QPS) or web front-end is accessible from unauthenticated network positions by reviewing firewall rules and proxy configurations
    Affected if The Qlik Sense web interfaces are exposed to unauthenticated/untrusted networks without proper network segmentation or authentication barriers
  4. Review proxy service configuration
    Inspect the Qlik Sense Proxy Service settings in the QMC to confirm whether anonymous access or the traversal-vulnerable endpoint paths are enabled
    Affected if Anonymous session generation is permitted or the proxy lacks proper authentication enforcement on the affected endpoints

A user is affected if their Qlik Sense Enterprise for Windows is version August 2022, November 2022, February 2023, or May 2023 without the corresponding security patches applied and the service is network-accessible to unauthenticated users.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the appropriate patch for the installed version: May 2023 Patch 4, February 2023 Patch 8, November 2022 Patch 11, or August 2022 Patch 13 (or August 2023 IR).

Recommended fix High confidence

August 2022 Patch 13 / November 2022 Patch 11 / February 2023 Patch 8 / May 2023 Patch 4 / August 2023 IR

  1. 1. Identify the current Qlik Sense Enterprise for Windows version and patch level by checking the Qlik Management Console or system information
  2. 2. Determine which version branch is currently deployed (August 2022, November 2022, February 2023, or May 2023)
  3. 3. For August 2022 installations: upgrade to August 2022 Patch 13 or later
  4. 4. For November 2022 installations: upgrade to November 2022 Patch 11 or later
  5. 5. For February 2023 installations: upgrade to February 2023 Patch 8 or later
  6. 6. For May 2023 installations: upgrade to May 2023 Patch 4 or later
  7. 7. Alternatively, upgrade to August 2023 Internal Release (IR) which contains all fixes
  8. 8. Test the upgrade in a non-production environment before deploying to production
Caveat Review Qlik Sense release notes for the target patch version to check for any breaking changes or deprecations before upgrading

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Qlik Sense Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
21.0 hours of engineering $3,680
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-41266 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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