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Safenet Authentication ClientApplication · Thalesgroup

CVE-2023-5993

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-02-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.8 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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 flaw in the Windows Installer in Thales SafeNet Authentication Client prior to 10.8 R10 on Windows allows an attacker to escalate their privilege level 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 confidence

A local privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the Windows Installer component of Thales SafeNet Authentication Client versions prior to 10.8 R10. An attacker with local access to a Windows system can exploit the installer to gain elevated privileges, likely through manipulation of installer behavior or related file/registry operations.

MitigationUpgrade Thales SafeNet Authentication Client to version 10.8 R10 or later. If immediate patching is not possible, restrict physical and local access to affected systems and monitor for suspicious installer activity.

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
Safenet Authentication ClientApplication
Affected:< 10.8= 10.8

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
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 checks

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

  1. Confirm SafeNet Authentication Client installation
    Check for Thales SafeNet Authentication Client in the Windows registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall or look for the installation directory in Program Files (typically C:\Program Files\Thales\SafeNet Authentication Client).
    Affected if Thales SafeNet Authentication Client is present on the system.
  2. Identify installed version via registry
    Query the Windows registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Thales\SafeNet Authentication Client\CurrentVersion or check the Uninstall registry entry for the DisplayVersion value.
    Affected if The registry shows a version less than 10.8 or exactly version 10.8.
  3. Identify installed version via executable properties
    Locate the main client executable (commonly SACore.exe or AuthMgr.exe in the installation folder), right-click and view Properties, or use PowerShell: Get-Item 'C:\Program Files\Thales\SafeNet Authentication Client\*.exe' | Select-Object Name, VersionInfo.
    Affected if The executable version displays as 10.8.x.x or any version below 10.8.
  4. Verify Windows Installer component involvement
    Review Windows Installer logs in %TEMP% for MSI*.log files created during SafeNet installation or repair operations, noting any unusual file or registry manipulation during the install process.
    Affected if Windows Installer logs show suspicious file or registry operations during SafeNet Authentication Client installation.

The system is affected if Thales SafeNet Authentication Client version 10.8 or any version prior to 10.8 is installed on the Windows system.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 10.8 or later
Fixed in 10.8
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Thales SafeNet Authentication Client to version 10.8 R10 or later. If immediate patching is not possible, restrict physical and local access to affected systems and monitor for suspicious installer activity.

Recommended fix High confidence

SafeNet Authentication Client 10.8 R10 or later

  1. Backup any critical data and configuration files related to the Safenet Authentication Client
  2. Download the SafeNet Authentication Client version 10.8 R10 or later from the Thales support portal (supportportal.thalesgroup.com)
  3. Uninstall the current version of SafeNet Authentication Client via Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features
  4. Restart the Windows system to ensure clean removal of the previous installation
  5. Run the installer for SafeNet Authentication Client 10.8 R10 or later with administrator privileges
  6. Follow the on-screen installation wizard prompts to complete the upgrade
  7. Restart the system again if prompted by the installer
  8. Verify the installed version matches the expected fixed version (10.8 R10 or later)

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

Fix this in Safenet Authentication Client Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,720
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,752.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2023-5993 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