CVE-2023-23397
Confirmed PUBLISHEDMicrosoft Outlook Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Recommended Action
Prioritize remediation. Validate affected assets and apply vendor fixes on an accelerated timeline.
At a Glance
Microsoft Outlook Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
- CVE Published
- Mar 14, 2023
- Exploitation Reported
- Mar 14, 2023
- CVSS
- 9.8 Critical
- EPSS
- 97.4%
Affected Versions
| Vendor | Product | Version | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft |
Microsoft Office LTSC 2021
|
16.0.1 to < https://aka.ms/OfficeSecurityReleases |
Affected |
| Microsoft |
Microsoft Outlook 2016
|
16.0.0.0 to < 16.0.5387.1000 |
Affected |
| Microsoft |
Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise
|
16.0.1 to < https://aka.ms/OfficeSecurityReleases |
Affected |
| Microsoft |
Microsoft Office 2019
|
19.0.0 to < https://aka.ms/OfficeSecurityReleases |
Affected |
| Microsoft |
Microsoft Outlook 2013 Service Pack 1
|
15.0.0.0 to < 15.0.5537.1000 |
Affected |
CVE References
- Microsoft Outlook Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability msrc.microsoft.com · Vendor Advisory https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2023-23397
Recommended Actions
- Prioritize remediation. Validate affected assets and apply vendor fixes on an accelerated timeline.
- Check enrichment artifacts for scanner coverage and available PoCs before rolling remediation validation.
- Use the Pro API to automate enrichment, telemetry, and workflow delivery for VM, SOC, and CTI pipelines.
Known Exploited Vulnerability Sources
Catalogues that list this CVE as a known exploited vulnerability.
Per-source evidence links for KEV attestations are available through the KEVIntel Pro API.
Learn about Pro API access| Source | Added |
|---|---|
| CISA First | 2023-03-14 00:00 UTC |
| Tenable Blog | 2026-06-02 14:20 UTC |
No detection artifacts or sensor request patterns are available for this CVE yet.
Check back as sensor telemetry and scanner integrations are updated.
Virtual Patch
Compensating WAF rules to help reduce exposure to this CVE. Rule content and deployable vendor exports are available with KEVIntel Enterprise.
KEVIntel does not currently have a virtual patch for this CVE. When available, KEVIntel virtual patches ship as deployable ModSecurity, Cloudflare, and AWS WAF rules.
Enterprise feature. Virtual patch rule content and deployable vendor exports (ModSecurity, Cloudflare, AWS WAF) are available to KEVIntel Enterprise users.
CVSS Scores
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Exploitation Status
Exploited in the wild
Recorded 2023-03-14 00:00:00 UTC · CISA
Proof of concept available
Recorded 2023-03-15 17:03:38 UTC · GitHub
Weaknesses (CWE)
-
Improper Input Validation
Scanner Integrations
| Scanner | Reference | Detected |
|---|---|---|
| Nessus | https://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/172607 | Jun 02, 2025 |
Recent Mentions
Tenable Blog · May 27, 2026
Tenable Research has developed a graph-based model linking 600+ threat groups to real-world customer exposures. It reveals which vulnerabilities sit at the intersection of severity, active exploitation, and organizational risk.Key takeawaysThe "patch everything" strategy is dead: Vulnerability prioritization based on exploitation risk offers a path forward. A directed graph model linking 600+ threat actors to vulnerabilities in 7,800 customer environments reveals that 68% of organizations carry at least one CVE previously exploited by a named adversary, and 321 tracked threat groups can reach at least one customer environment through an active vulnerability. Prevalence of "Elite Arsenal" CVEs requires immediate attention: The 242 "Elite Arsenal" CVEs — those meeting all three criteria of critical VPR (≥ 9), CISA KEV listing, and documented threat group exploitation — are nearly universally present across the studied customer base, with 241 of 242 actively detected. More than half are five or more years old, and 78% of the persistently exploited core are simultaneously weaponized by nation-state APTs, commodity malware operators, and ransomware gangs. Non-CVE exposures are universally dangerous: Non-CVE exposures, including misconfigurations, weak credentials, and end-of-life software, are present in virtually 100% of studied organizations, with 60% carrying at least one that maps to a tracked threat actor's preferred techniques. Preliminary modeling suggests these exposures may confer more breach risk than CVE-linked findings, yet no industry-standard scoring infrastructure exists to prioritize them.While the first two posts in this blog series documented the accelerating vulnerability flood and the widening remediation gap, today we answer the outstanding question: Where do these forces actually collide inside customer environments? Using a directed graph model that maps more than 600 tracked threat groups to vulnerabilities observed across 7,800 organizations,...
Potential Proof of Concepts
These PoCs are unverified and could contain malware. Use at your own risk.
github · Created 2024-06-22 14:25:39 UTC · 0 stars
CVE-2023-23397: Remote Code Execution Vulnerability in Microsoft Outlook
github · Created 2023-10-26 09:26:32 UTC · 3 stars
This script exploits CVE-2023-23397, a Zero-Day vulnerability in Microsoft Outlook, allowing the generation of malicious emails for testing and educational purposes.
github · Created 2023-07-14 22:02:55 UTC · 21 stars
github · Created 2023-03-31 03:35:30 UTC · 3 stars
CVE-2023-23397漏洞的简单PoC，有效载荷通过电子邮件发送。
github · Created 2023-03-21 18:38:00 UTC · 25 stars
Proof of Concept for CVE-2023-23397 in Python
github · Created 2023-03-20 16:31:54 UTC · 123 stars
Simple PoC of the CVE-2023-23397 vulnerability with the payload sent by email.
github · Created 2023-03-19 08:07:58 UTC · 2 stars
github · Created 2023-03-18 21:14:21 UTC · 9 stars
github · Created 2023-03-17 17:35:14 UTC · 7 stars
Generates meeting requests taking advantage of CVE-2023-23397. This requires the outlook thick client to send.
github · Created 2023-03-17 10:18:26 UTC · 6 stars
Exploit POC for CVE-2023-23397
github · Created 2023-03-17 03:38:50 UTC · 0 stars
CVE-2023-23397 Remediation Script (Powershell)
github · Created 2023-03-16 19:43:39 UTC · 344 stars
github · Created 2023-03-16 19:10:37 UTC · 40 stars
Simple PoC in PowerShell for CVE-2023-23397
github · Created 2023-03-16 15:00:26 UTC · 4 stars
Python script to create a message with the vulenrability properties set
github · Created 2023-03-16 14:07:15 UTC · 3 stars
CVE-2023-23397 - Microsoft Outlook Vulnerability
github · Created 2023-03-15 17:03:38 UTC · 161 stars
Exploit for the CVE-2023-23397
Timeline
Key exploitation, disclosure, scanner coverage, and KEV attestation events for this CVE.
-
14:20 UTC about 2 months ago14:20 UTC · about 2 months ago
KEV confirmed by Tenable Blog
Exploitation attested by an external source
-
09:27 UTC about 1 year ago09:27 UTC · about 1 year ago
Nessus plugin available
Scanner coverage available
-
17:03 UTC over 3 years ago17:03 UTC · over 3 years ago
Public PoC available
Public proof-of-concept code published
-
16:55 UTC over 3 years ago16:55 UTC · over 3 years ago
CVE published
Vulnerability disclosed publicly
-
00:00 UTC over 3 years ago00:00 UTC · over 3 years ago
Added to CISA KEV
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
-
22:08 UTC over 3 years ago22:08 UTC · over 3 years ago
CVE ID reserved
Identifier reserved by the CNA
Automate This Intelligence with the Pro API
Confidence scoring, exploit status, sensor telemetry, PoCs, scanner integrations, mentions, and tags are available programmatically for VM, SOC, and CTI workflows.
Pro API Example
GET /api/v2/pro/kevs/CVE-2023-23397
{
"cve_id": "CVE-2023-23397",
"title": "Microsoft Outlook Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability",
"affected_vendor": "Microsoft",
"affected_product": "Microsoft Office LTSC 2021, Microsoft Outlook 2016, Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise, Microsoft Office 2019, Microsoft Outlook 2013 Service Pack 1",
"affected_versions": [
{ "vendor": "...", "product": "...", "status": "affected", "display_label": "..." }
],
"confidence": "Confirmed",
"cvss_score": 9.8,
"epss_score": 0.97408,
"exploit_status": {
"exploited_in_the_wild": true,
"active_exploitation_observed": false
},
"sensor_telemetry": { "...": "Pro API fields" },
"proof_of_concepts": [ "..." ],
"scanner_integrations": [ "..." ]
}