# CVE-2023-46814: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Standard users can gain SYSTEM privileges via binary hijacking in the VLC uninstaller on Windows.

- **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:** 22 Nov 2023
- **Updated:** 29 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-4427-h6h2-wh2w

## What is CVE-2023-46814?

CVE-2023-46814 is a high-severity vulnerability in Videolan Vlc Media Player, published on 22 Nov 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A binary hijacking vulnerability exists within the VideoLAN VLC media player before 3.0.19 on Windows. The uninstaller attempts to execute code with elevated privileges out of a standard user writable location. Standard users may use this to gain arbitrary code execution as SYSTEM.

Weakness: CWE-427 (Uncontrolled Search Path Element)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-46814?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Videolan Vlc Media Player.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-46814?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-46814 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-46814 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-46814 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Videolan Vlc Media Player

- [CVE-2008-0296](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2008-0296/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2023-47359](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-47359/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2019-12874](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-12874/): Use after free in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-10699](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-10699/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2013-1868](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-1868/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-46814 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-46814 is a high-severity vulnerability in Videolan Vlc Media Player, published on 22 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-2023-46814 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Videolan Vlc Media Player. 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-2023-46814/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-46814/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-46814
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-46814
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-46814

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-46814/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.