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Full vulnerability report · 2023
CVE-2023-29338High confidence

Visual Studio Code Spoofing Vulnerability

Microsoft · Visual Studio Code

6.6MediumCVSS 3.1
Recommended action
Within 7 days

Medium technical severity with public exploit material referenced by a structured source; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance.

Patch available
R
Operational reassessment

Published severity in operational context

Open reassessment dashboard →
Published severityMediumOperational priority:Medium, unchanged from published severity.unchanged

Evidence used

  • No CISA KEV confirmation is currently recorded.
  • A structured source references public exploit or proof-of-concept material.
  • Exploitation requires an existing local or physical foothold with privileges.
  • EPSS is 0.88% for the current model date.

Compensating controls

  • Validate the affected product branch and deploy the verified fixed release.
  • Restrict local access and enforce least privilege on affected hosts.
  • Increase monitoring for the attack path and post-exploitation behaviour described in the report.

Verification

  1. Confirm that the asset runs Microsoft Visual Studio Code and falls inside the recorded affected range.
  2. Verify the installed build against the product-specific fixed version after deployment.
  3. Validate exposure, authentication requirements and compensating controls in the actual environment.
  4. Reopen this reassessment when CVSS, KEV, EPSS, exploit evidence or remediation changes.
Mitigation target: As exposure requiresRemediation target: Within 365 days

This automated reassessment organises public evidence. It does not know asset exposure, business impact or control effectiveness and does not replace CVSS or a human risk decision.

Optional official sources

National CERT insights
?CERT means Computer Emergency Response Team; CSIRT is the closely related term Computer Security Incident Response Team.

Choose official national sources for this report. Each advisory shows its original language. Your selection is remembered on this device and included in shared links.

Official European source

ENISA European Vulnerability Database

Official EUVD identifiers, advisory evidence and known-exploited context. Missing fields are not treated as evidence of low risk.

1 current
ENISA EUVD identifier

EUVD-2023-32911

No EUVD known-exploited evidence

ENISA has published the identifier mapping but no EUVD description has been stored yet.

EUVD state
Present in the current official mapping
Known exploitation
Not present in the current ENISA EUVD known-exploited dataset. This is not proof of no exploitation.
ENISA score
Not supplied in the stored EUVD record
Advisory evidence
No linked advisory details stored yet
Recommended actionWithin 7 days

Medium technical severity with public exploit material referenced by a structured source; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance.

Patch available
01

What, why and how

Visual Studio Code Spoofing Vulnerability

What

Visual Studio Code Spoofing Vulnerability

Why

The product does not perform or incorrectly performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action.

How

An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.

What

Visual Studio Code Spoofing Vulnerability

Why

The product does not perform or incorrectly performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action.

How

An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.

02

Exploit reality and attack path

CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.

Observed exploitation
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
No confirmed evidence

No CISA KEV match was present at the last successful refresh. This means no confirmation from that source, not proof of no exploitation.

Public PoC / exploit material
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
Reference recorded

CISA Vulnrichment records proof-of-concept exploitation in its SSVC data. BlackTree has not independently executed or validated exploit material.

Likely attack path
local access → Improper Authorization → cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor
Attack surface
Local
Privileges required
Low: a basic authenticated account is required
User interaction
Required interaction required
Attack complexity
Low: no specialised conditions are recorded
Security boundary
Unchanged: impact remains within the vulnerable component's security authority
Weakness
?CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness.
CWE-285 ↗

CWE-285: Improper Authorization. The product does not perform or incorrectly performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action.

CVSS vector
?CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N/E:P/RL:O/RC:C

Common Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.

AVLocalAttack vector: The attacker needs local access to the vulnerable system.ACLowAttack complexity: No specialised conditions are required beyond attacker-controlled input.PRLowPrivileges required: The attacker needs basic user-level privileges.UIRequiredUser interaction: Another user must perform an action for exploitation to succeed.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CHighConfidentiality impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.IHighIntegrity impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.ANoneAvailability impact: No direct loss is represented by this metric.
Post-exploitation / living off the land
The issue can support a local privilege or sandbox boundary transition; normal system utilities may then be available in the gained context.
CWE-285Public exploit reference
A

Official authority intelligence

Only matched European and national findings are included. Language selectors and unavailable sources are omitted.

Cyber Security Agency of Singapore · English · CSA-SB-20230510Security Bulletin 10 May 2023

The Cyber Security Agency of Singapore included this CVE in its official Security Bulletin 10 May 2023, published on 10 May 2023. Open the linked bulletin for the product, severity and reference information published in that issue.

Official advisory ↗
CERT-FR · French · CERTFR-2023-AVI-0374Multiples vulnérabilités dans les produits Microsoft

De multiples vulnérabilités ont été corrigées dans les produits Microsoft . Elles permettent à un attaquant de provoquer une exécution de code à distance, une atteinte à la confidentialité des données, un déni de service et un contournement de la fonctionnalité de sécurité.

Official advisory ↗
JVN iPedia · Japanese · JVNDB-2023-001847Visual Studio Code における情報を公開される脆弱性

Visual Studio Code には、情報を公開される脆弱性が存在します。

Official advisory ↗
KISA KrCERT/CC · Korean · KNVD-5936MS 6월 보안 위협에 따른 정기 보안 업데이트 권고

e (Chromium-based) | CVE-2023-2935 | Chromium: CVE-2023-2935 V8에서 유형 혼란 | | Windows NTFS | CVE-2023-29346 | NTFS 권한 상승 취약성 | | Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based) | CVE-2023-29345 | Microsoft Edge(Chromium 기반) 보안 기능 우회 취약성 | | Microsoft Office | CVE-2023-29344 | Microsoft Office 원격 코드 실행 취약성 | | SysInternals | CVE-2023-29343 | Windows용 SysInternals Sysmon 권한 상승 취약성 | | Microsoft Windows Codecs Library | CVE-2023-29341 | AV1 비디오 확장 원격 코드 실행 취약성 | | Microsoft Windows Codecs Library | CVE-2023-29340 | AV1 비디오 확장 원격 코드 실행 취약성 | | Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based) | CVE-2023-2934 | Chromium: CVE-2023-2934 Mojo에서 범위를 벗어난 메모리 액세스 | | Visual Studio Code | CVE-2023-29338 | Visual Studio Code 정보 유출 취약성 | | NuGet Client | CVE-2023-29337 | NuGet 클라이언트 원격 코드 실행 취약성 | | Windows Win32K | CVE-2023-29336 | Win32k 권한 상승 취약성 | | Microsoft Office Word | CVE-2023-29335 | Microsoft Word 보안 기능 우회 취약성 | | Microsoft Office Access | CVE-2023-29333 | Microsoft 서비스 액세스 거부 취약성 | | .NET Core | CVE-2023-29331 | .NET, .NET Framework, Visual Studio 서비스 거부 취약성 | | Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based) | CVE-2023-2933 | Chromium: CVE-2023-2933 PDF에서 UaF(Use after free) | | .NET Framework | CVE-2023-29326 | .NET Framework 원격 코드 실행 취약성 | | Windows OLE | CVE-2023-29325 | Windows OLE 원격 코드 실행 취약성 | | Windows MSHTML Platform | CVE-2023-29324 |

Official advisory ↗
KISA KrCERT/CC · Korean · KNVD-5917MS 5월 보안 위협에 따른 정기 보안 업데이트 권고

de/releaseNote/2023-May [4] https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide o 취약점 요약 정보 | 제품 카테고리 | CVE 번호 | CVE 제목 | | --- | --- | --- | | Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based) | CVE-2023-29354 | Microsoft Edge(Chromium 기반) 보안 기능 우회 취약성 | | Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based) | CVE-2023-29350 | Microsoft Edge(Chromium 기반) 권한 상승 취약성 | | Microsoft Office | CVE-2023-29344 | Microsoft Office 원격 코드 실행 취약성 | | SysInternals | CVE-2023-29343 | Windows용 SysInternals Sysmon 권한 상승 취약성 | | Microsoft Windows Codecs Library | CVE-2023-29341 | AV1 비디오 확장 원격 코드 실행 취약성 | | Microsoft Windows Codecs Library | CVE-2023-29340 | AV1 비디오 확장 원격 코드 실행 취약성 | | Visual Studio Code | CVE-2023-29338 | Visual Studio Code 정보 유출 취약성 | | Windows Win32K | CVE-2023-29336 | Win32k 권한 상승 취약성 | | Microsoft Office Word | CVE-2023-29335 | Microsoft Word 보안 기능 우회 취약성 | | Microsoft Edge (Chromium-based) | CVE-2023-29334 | Microsoft Edge(Chromium 기반) 스푸핑 취약성 | | Microsoft Office Access | CVE-2023-29333 | Microsoft 서비스 액세스 거부 취약성 | | Windows OLE | CVE-2023-29325 | Windows OLE 원격 코드 실행 취약성 | | Windows MSHTML Platform | CVE-2023-29324 | Windows MSHTML Platform Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability | | Microsoft Dynamics | CVE-2023-28314 | Microsoft Dynamics 365(온-프레미스) 교차-사이트 스크립팅 취약성 | | Dynamics 365 Customer Voice | CVE-2023-28313 | Microsoft Dynamics

Official advisory ↗
03

Patch and workaround

Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.

Status
?Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Patch available
Affected
Visual Studio Code: 1.0.0 < 1.78.1
Fixed
An authoritative update reference is available, but the fixed version is not recorded in the structured CVE fields. Check the linked vendor advisory for the applicable release.
Action
Review the linked authoritative reference and apply the recorded fixed release appropriate to the affected product branch.
Workaround
No verified workaround is recorded. Limit untrusted access and use least privilege until authoritative guidance is available.
04

Evidence and provenance

Published 9 May 2023 · Last source change 10 Jul 2025, 16:39 UTC · CWE-285 · Improper Authorization

CVE recordCVE.org · 5.1
CVSS sourceCNA
EPSS source
?The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.
FIRST · tracked since 2026-08-14
European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2023-32911
Product sourceCNA
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceOther authority
NVD statusNVD modified after enrichment

Core structured fields are present and their contributing authorities are shown above.

Material change intelligence

What changed after publication

View recent updates ↗

No material field changes have been recorded since change tracking began. Routine source refreshes and cosmetic edits are intentionally excluded.

Material fields only · duplicate refreshes suppressed · history retained for the configured operational retention period
CVE published
Fixed release or patch reference recorded
ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2023-32911↗CISA Vulnrichment SSVC evidence↗CVE authority or vendor reference↗Official CVE record (CNA and ADP data)↗NVD record↗
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
CVE
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
CVSS
Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
EPSS
Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
CWE
Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
CNA
CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
CISA ADP
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
NVD
National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
CERT / CSIRT
A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
PoC
Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
CSAF
Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
LoTL
Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.
Free version - for non-commercial use only.CVE-2023-29338 · cve.blacktree.nl