CVE-2023-43591
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 · uneditedImproper privilege management in Zoom Rooms for macOS before version 5.16.0 may allow an authenticated user to conduct an 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 · moderate confidenceImproper privilege management in Zoom Rooms for macOS versions prior to 5.16.0 allows an authenticated local user to escalate privileges. The vulnerability stems from insufficient access controls within the Zoom Rooms application, permitting a user with standard credentials to gain elevated (likely administrator or root) access on the affected 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 data< 5.16.0CVSS 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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Locate Zoom Rooms installation on macOSOpen Terminal and run: ls -la /Applications/ | grep -i 'zoom rooms' to check if Zoom Rooms.app exists in the Applications folder.Affected if Zoom Rooms.app is not found in /Applications/
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Get installed Zoom Rooms versionRun: defaults read /Applications/Zoom\ Rooms.app/Contents/Info CFBundleShortVersionString 2>/dev/null or right-click Zoom Rooms.app > Get Info and look at the Version field.Affected if Version number returned is lower than 5.16.0 (e.g., 5.15.10, 5.14.5, etc.)
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Verify running process if applicableRun: ps aux | grep -i 'zoom rooms' | grep -v grep to see if the Zoom Rooms process is currently running on the system.Affected if Zoom Rooms process is running and version is below 5.16.0
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Check for standard user accessThis vulnerability requires an authenticated local user with standard (non-admin) credentials. Identify if standard user accounts exist on the system using: dscl . -list /Users | grep -v '^_' or check via System Settings > Users & Groups.Affected if Standard user accounts exist on the system AND Zoom Rooms version is below 5.16.0
You are affected if Zoom Rooms for macOS is installed and its version is lower than 5.16.0, and standard user accounts exist on the system that could potentially exploit the insufficient access controls.
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 · scoped5.16.0
Upgrade Zoom Rooms for macOS to version 5.16.0 or later to remediate this vulnerability.
Zoom Rooms for macOS 5.16.0 or later
- Check current Zoom Rooms version by opening Zoom Rooms app and navigating to the version information
- Download Zoom Rooms version 5.16.0 or later from the official Zoom website (explore.zoom.us)
- Run the installer to upgrade Zoom Rooms for macOS
- Restart Zoom Rooms service if not automatically restarted
- Verify the installed version is 5.16.0 or later
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-43591 — 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-2023-43591 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data