# CVE-2023-38817: Privilege escalation in n/a

> A local attacker can gain SYSTEM privileges via a crafted command to the Echo.ac driver, though the vendor claims Microsoft has mitigated this.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/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:** 11 Oct 2023
- **Updated:** 2 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** CVE-2023-37637, GHSA-5949-v5hq-vggr

## What is CVE-2023-38817?

CVE-2023-38817 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 11 Oct 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An issue in Inspect Element Ltd Echo.ac v.5.2.1.0 allows a local attacker to gain privileges via a crafted command to the echo_driver.sys component. NOTE: the vendor's position is that the reported ability for user-mode applications to execute code as NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM was "deactivated by Microsoft itself."

Weakness: CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-38817?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Echo Anti Cheat Tool.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-38817?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-38817 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-38817 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-38817 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code:

- :pager: a tiny code that performs kernel-mode read/write using CVE-2023-38817. (github_poc): https://github.com/vxcall/kur
- Exploit Code for CVE-2023-38817 (github_poc): https://github.com/SecSecBurger/CVE-2023-38817

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-38817 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-38817 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 11 Oct 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-2023-38817 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. 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-2023-38817/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-38817/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-38817
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-38817
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-38817

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-38817/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.