CVE-2023-7043
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 · uneditedUnquoted service path in ESET products allows to drop a prepared program to a specific location and run on boot with the NT AUTHORITY\NetworkService permissions.
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 confidenceUnquoted service path vulnerability in ESET products allows an attacker to place a malicious executable in an intermediate directory within an unquoted service path, which Windows will attempt to execute upon service startup. The malicious program runs with NT AUTHORITY\NetworkService privileges at boot time.
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>= 10.1.2046.0, < 11.0.2032.0>= 10.1.2046.0, < 11.0.2032.0>= 16.1.14.0, < 17.0.15.0= 10.1.10012.0>= 16.1.14.0, < 17.0.15.0>= 16.1.14.0, < 17.0.15.0CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed ESET product and versionCheck registry at HKLM\SOFTWARE\ESET\ESETSecurity\CurrentVersion\InstallDir or look in C:\Program Files\ESET for product folders. Run: reg query 'HKLM\SOFTWARE\ESET\ESETSecurity\CurrentVersion' /v VersionAffected if The installed version falls within any of the vulnerable ranges: Endpoint Antivirus/Security >= 10.1.2046.0 and < 11.0.2032.0; Internet Security/NOD32/Smart Security Premium >= 16.1.14.0 and < 17.0.15.0; Mail Security = 10.1.10012.0
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List ESET services with unquoted pathsRun: sc query type= service state= all | findstr "SERVICE_NAME:" then for each ESET service run: sc qc <serviceName> and examine the BINARY_PATH_NAME fieldAffected if The BINARY_PATH_NAME field contains a path with spaces and is not wrapped in quotation marks
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Check for writable intermediate directories in service pathFor each unquoted ESET service path, identify directories in the path (e.g., for C:\Program Files\ESET\ESET Security\ekrn.exe, check permissions on Program Files and ESET folders). Run: icacls "C:\Program Files\ESET"Affected if Any directory in the service path (excluding the final executable) grants write access to non-admin users, allowing placement of a malicious executable that Windows would attempt to run at service startup
You are affected if an ESET product with a version in the vulnerable ranges is installed AND one of its services has an unquoted executable path with writable intermediate directories.
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 · scoped11.0.2032.017.0.15.0
Reconfigure the affected ESET service(s) to use quoted executable paths in the service definition, or ensure the service binary is located in a path without spaces. Alternatively, restrict write access to directories in the service path to prevent placement of malicious programs.
Endpoint products: 11.0.2032.0 | Internet Security/Nod32/Smart Security Premium: 17.0.15.0
- 1. Identify the affected ESET product and current version from the list: Endpoint Antivirus, Endpoint Security, Internet Security, Mail Security, Nod32 Antivirus, or Smart Security Premium
- 2. For Endpoint Antivirus or Endpoint Security: upgrade to version 11.0.2032.0 or later
- 3. For Internet Security, Nod32 Antivirus, or Smart Security Premium: upgrade to version 17.0.15.0 or later
- 4. For Mail Security version 10.1.10012.0: contact ESET support for specific patch availability or upgrade guidance
- 5. After upgrade, verify the service path is now properly quoted by checking the service configuration in Windows Registry under HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\<service_name>
- 6. Confirm the ESET services restart successfully and the product functions normally
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 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 $1,696.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-7043 — 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-2023-7043 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
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