# CVE-2023-20858: Code injection in VMware Carbon Black App Control

> Privileged attackers can inject code via the administration console to execute commands on the underlying server operating system.

- **Severity:** High 7.2 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 21 Feb 2023
- **Updated:** 17 Mar 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-cfhc-8r7r-vh6v

## What is CVE-2023-20858?

CVE-2023-20858 is a high-severity code injection vulnerability in VMware Carbon Black App Control, published on 21 Feb 2023. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

VMware Carbon Black App Control 8.7.x prior to 8.7.8, 8.8.x prior to 8.8.6, and 8.9.x.prior to 8.9.4 contain an injection vulnerability. A malicious actor with privileged access to the App Control administration console may be able to use specially crafted input allowing access to the underlying server operating system.

Weakness: CWE-74 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-20858?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Vmware Carbon Black App Control.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-20858?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-20858 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-20858 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-20858 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in VMware Carbon Black App Control

- [CVE-2021-21998](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-21998/): Auth bypass in VMware Carbon Black App Control (AppC) (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2022-22951](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-22951/): Command injection in VMware Carbon Black App Control (AppC) (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2022-22952](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-22952/): File upload in VMware Carbon Black App Control (AppC) (critical 9.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-20858 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-20858 is a high-severity code injection vulnerability in VMware Carbon Black App Control, published on 21 Feb 2023. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-20858 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: VMware Carbon Black App Control. 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-2023-20858/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20858/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-20858
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-20858
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-20858

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20858/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.