# CVE-2023-0652: Local Privilege Escalation in Cloudflare WARP Installer (Windows)

> A local attacker can exploit hardlink creation during repair or installation to overwrite SYSTEM files and escalate privileges on Windows.

- **Severity:** High 7.0 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 6 Apr 2023
- **Updated:** 10 Feb 2025

## What is CVE-2023-0652?

CVE-2023-0652 is a high-severity vulnerability in Cloudflare WARP, published on 6 Apr 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Due to a hardlink created in the ProgramData folder during the repair process of the software, the installer (MSI) of WARP Client for Windows (<= 2022.12.582.0) allowed a malicious attacker to forge the destination of the hardlink and escalate privileges, overwriting SYSTEM protected files.
As Cloudflare WARP client for Windows (up to version 2022.5.309.0) allowed creation of mount points from its ProgramData folder, during installation of the WARP client, it was possible to escalate privileges and overwrite SYSTEM protected files.

Weakness: CWE-59 (Improper Link Resolution Before File Access)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-0652?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cloudflare Warp.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-0652?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-0652 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-0652 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-0652 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cloudflare WARP

- [CVE-2022-4428](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-4428/): support_uri validation missing in WARP client for Windows (high 8.9)
- [CVE-2022-2225](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-2225/): Zero Trust Secure Web Gateway policies bypass using WARP client subcommands (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2023-2754](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-2754/): Plaintext transmission of DNS requests in Windows 1.1.1.1 WARP client (high 7.4)
- [CVE-2023-1862](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-1862/): Remote access to warp-svc.exe in Cloudflare WARP (high 7.3)
- [CVE-2023-1412](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-1412/): Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability in WARP's MSI Installer (high 7.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-0652 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-0652 is a high-severity vulnerability in Cloudflare WARP, published on 6 Apr 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-0652 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cloudflare WARP. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-0652/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-0652/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-0652
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-0652
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-0652

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-0652/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.