CVE-2023-22293 in Thunderbolt DCH Drivers
Summary
by MITRE • 02/14/2024
Improper access control in the Intel(R) Thunderbolt(TM) DCH drivers for Windows may allow an authenticated user to potentially enable escalation of privilege via local access.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/07/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-22293 represents a critical access control flaw within the Intel Thunderbolt DCH drivers for Windows operating systems. This issue affects the fundamental security architecture of Thunderbolt-enabled devices by creating a pathway for privilege escalation through local access vectors. The vulnerability stems from insufficient validation mechanisms within the driver code that governs Thunderbolt device interactions, allowing authenticated users to exploit weaknesses in the permission model that should normally prevent unauthorized privilege elevation.
The technical implementation of this flaw involves improper validation of access controls within the kernel-level driver components that manage Thunderbolt device communication. When a user authenticates to the system, the driver fails to properly enforce the principle of least privilege, enabling malicious or compromised local accounts to manipulate driver functions that should be restricted to administrative or system-level processes. This weakness specifically impacts the way the driver handles device access requests and permission checks during Thunderbolt device enumeration and configuration processes. The vulnerability manifests when legitimate user sessions attempt to interact with Thunderbolt device management functions without proper authorization boundaries being enforced.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability creates significant risk for enterprise environments where local access to systems may be compromised through social engineering, insider threats, or physical access attacks. An attacker with local user credentials could potentially leverage this flaw to gain elevated privileges, potentially leading to full system compromise or persistent access. The impact extends beyond individual system compromise as Thunderbolt devices often provide high-speed data transfer and device connectivity that could serve as a vector for lateral movement within networks. The vulnerability affects systems running Windows operating systems with Intel Thunderbolt DCH drivers installed, particularly those that support Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4 protocols.
Mitigation strategies should focus on immediate driver updates from Intel as the primary remediation measure, while also implementing additional security controls such as enabling Windows Defender Application Control to restrict unauthorized driver loading. Organizations should conduct thorough inventory assessments to identify all systems with affected Thunderbolt drivers and establish monitoring procedures for unusual privilege escalation attempts. Network segmentation and least privilege access controls should be reinforced to limit the potential impact of successful exploitation. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 which addresses improper access control, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1068 which covers local privilege escalation through kernel exploits. Security teams should also consider implementing endpoint detection and response solutions that can monitor for suspicious driver behavior and unauthorized privilege elevation attempts.