CVE-2023-32009 in Windows
Summary
by MITRE • 06/14/2023
Windows Collaborative Translation Framework Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/12/2023
This vulnerability resides within the Windows Collaborative Translation Framework which facilitates translation services across different language components in Microsoft Windows operating systems. The flaw represents a privilege escalation issue that allows attackers to elevate their access rights from standard user level to system level execution privileges. The vulnerability stems from improper validation of input parameters within the translation framework's handling mechanisms, creating an opportunity for malicious code injection and unauthorized privilege manipulation.
The technical implementation involves a weakness in how the system processes translation requests and manages associated security contexts. When legitimate translation operations occur through the collaborative framework, the underlying code fails to properly sanitize or validate incoming data streams that could contain malicious payloads designed to exploit the privilege escalation mechanism. This vulnerability specifically affects systems where the collaborative translation framework is enabled and actively utilized for language processing tasks.
Operational impact assessment reveals this vulnerability poses significant risk to enterprise environments where multiple users interact with translation services. Attackers can leverage this weakness to gain unauthorized system access, potentially leading to complete system compromise, data exfiltration, or establishment of persistent backdoors. The vulnerability affects various Windows versions including windows 10, windows server 2016, and windows server 2019, making it a widespread concern for organizations relying on Microsoft translation services.
The flaw aligns with CWE-264, which describes permissions, privileges, and access control weaknesses in software implementations. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to privilege escalation techniques under tactic T1068, specifically targeting local privilege escalation methods that exploit software flaws in system components. The attack vector typically involves crafting malicious translation requests or manipulating existing translation data to trigger the vulnerable code path.
Mitigation strategies should prioritize immediate deployment of Microsoft security patches and updates addressing this specific vulnerability. Organizations must also implement network segmentation to limit access to translation services and establish monitoring protocols for unusual translation request patterns that could indicate exploitation attempts. Additional protective measures include disabling unnecessary collaborative translation features, implementing application whitelisting policies, and conducting regular security assessments of translation framework configurations. System administrators should also consider implementing least privilege principles for translation service accounts and maintain detailed audit logs of translation activities to detect potential exploitation attempts.