CVE-2023-1314 [High] | Privilege Escalation in Cloudflared

A vulnerability has been discovered in cloudflared's installer (<= 2023.3.0) for Windows 32-bits devices that allows a local attacker with no administrative permissions to escalate their privileges on the affected device. This vulnerability exists because the MSI installer used by cloudflared relied on a world-writable directory. An attacker with local access to the device (without Administrator rights) can use symbolic links to trick the MSI installer into deleting files in locations that the attacker would otherwise have no access to. By creating a symlink from the world-writable directory to the target file, the attacker can manipulate the MSI installer's repair functionality to delete the target file during the repair process. Exploitation of this vulnerability could allow an attacker to delete important system files or replace them with malicious files, potentially leading to the affected device being compromised. The cloudflared client itself is not affected by this vulnerability, only the installer for 32-bit Windows devices.

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2026-06-15	0.21%	0.26%	+0.04%
2	2026-05-31	0.27%	0.21%	-0.06%
3	2026-04-04	—	0.27%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2026-06-15

0.21%

0.26%

+0.04%

2026-05-31

0.27%

0.21%

-0.06%

2026-04-04

—

0.27%

—

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector	Exploitability	Impact	Score source
7.5	3.1	HIGH	`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:H` Click to expand Attack vector (AV:L) They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by. Attack complexity (AC:H) Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work. Privileges required (PR:L) A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin. User interaction (UI:N) Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping. Scope (S:C) Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius. Confidentiality (C:N) Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way. Integrity (I:H) They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt. Availability (A:H) Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.	1.1	5.8	[email protected]
7.8	3.1	HIGH	`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H` Click to expand Attack vector (AV:L) They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by. Attack complexity (AC:L) Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup. Privileges required (PR:L) A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin. User interaction (UI:N) Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping. Scope (S:U) Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems. Confidentiality (C:H) Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way. Integrity (I:H) They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt. Availability (A:H) Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.	1.8	5.9	[email protected]

Base score

Version

Severity

Vector

Exploitability

Impact

Score source

7.5

3.1

HIGH

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:H Click to expand

Attack vector (AV:L): They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:H): Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:L): A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N): Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C): Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:N): Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:H): They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H): Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

1.1

5.8

[email protected]

7.8

3.1

HIGH

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand

Attack vector (AV:L): They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L): Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L): A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N): Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U): Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H): Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H): They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H): Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

1.8

5.9

[email protected]

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-1314

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
cloudflare	cloudflared	< 2023.3.1	cpe:2.3:a:cloudflare:cloudflared::::::::

References for CVE-2023-1314

URL	Tags
https://github.com/cloudflare/cloudflared/releases	Release Notes
https://github.com/cloudflare/cloudflared/security/advisories/GHSA-7mjv-x3jf-545x	Vendor Advisory

URL

CVE-2023-1314 | Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability in cloudflared's Installer

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-1314

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-1314

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-1314

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2023-1314

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-1314

References for CVE-2023-1314