# CVE-2023-41718: Privilege escalation in Secure Access

> An attacker with control over a specific file can gain unauthorized elevated privileges on Ivanti Secure Access systems.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.0/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:** 14 Nov 2023
- **Updated:** 7 Jan 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-jc2w-6rjp-h443

## What is CVE-2023-41718?

CVE-2023-41718 is a high-severity vulnerability in Ivanti Secure Access, published on 14 Nov 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

When a particular process flow is initiated, an attacker may be able to gain unauthorized elevated privileges on the affected system when having control over a specific file.

Weakness: CWE-276 (Incorrect Default Permissions)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-41718?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Ivanti Secure Access Client.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-41718?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-41718 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-41718 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-41718 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Ivanti Secure Access

- [CVE-2026-8992](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-8992/): Security feature bypass in Secure Access Client (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2023-35080](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-35080/): Privilege escalation in Secure Access Client (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2023-38043](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-38043/): Denial of service in Secure Access Client Windows (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2023-38543](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-38543/): Denial of service in Secure Access Client Windows (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2026-7432](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-7432/): Race condition in Secure Access Client (high 7.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-41718 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-41718 is a high-severity vulnerability in Ivanti Secure Access, published on 14 Nov 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-2023-41718 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Ivanti Secure Access. 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-2023-41718/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-41718/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-41718
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-41718
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-41718

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-41718/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.