CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2023-28140 — An Executable Hijacking condition exists in the Qualys Cloud Agent for Windows platform in versions before 4.5.3.1

High CVSS 7

An Executable Hijacking condition exists in the Qualys Cloud Agent for Windows platform in versions before 4.5.3.1. Attackers may load a malicious copy of a Dependency Link Library (DLL) via a local attack vector instead of the DLL that the application was expecting, when processes are running with escalated privileges. This vulnerability is bounded only to the time of uninstallation and can only be exploited locally. At the time of this disclosure, versions before 4.0 are classified as End of Life.

Severity
High
CVSS
7 (3.1)
Published
2023-04-18
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
windows/system
Weaknesses
CWE-427

Affected products

  • qualys / cloud_agent

Matched remediation archetype

Supply-chain, dependency, build, and update integrity

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Trace affected packages, source archives, build actions, plugins, installers, and updates from declared source to deployed artifact.
  • Confirm provenance, signatures or digests, namespace ownership, lockfile resolution, registry configuration, and build-runner trust boundaries.
  • Inventory direct, transitive, vendored, generated, and bundled copies across releases and distribution channels.

Remediate safely

  • Move to a maintained trusted artifact or remove the dependency; pin immutable identities and verify provenance and integrity before use.
  • Regenerate lockfiles and artifacts in a clean isolated build, minimize build credentials and network access, and produce an updated software bill of materials.
  • Require reviewed update policy, protected publishing, and reproducible or independently attestable builds where supported.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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