# CVE-2023-47039: Perl: perl for windows binary hijacking vulnerability

> An attacker can execute arbitrary code with administrator privileges by placing a malicious cmd.exe in the current working directory due to insecure path search order.

- **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:** Yes
- **Published:** 2 Jan 2024
- **Updated:** 20 Nov 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-44qm-928x-6p3g, UBUNTU-CVE-2023-47039

## What is CVE-2023-47039?

CVE-2023-47039 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, published on 2 Jan 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability was found in Perl. This security issue occurs while Perl for Windows relies on the system path environment variable to find the shell (`cmd.exe`). When running an executable that uses the Windows Perl interpreter, Perl attempts to find and execute `cmd.exe` within the operating system. However, due to path search order issues, Perl initially looks for cmd.exe in the current working directory. This flaw allows an attacker with limited privileges to place`cmd.exe` in locations with weak permissions, such as `C:\ProgramData`. By doing so, arbitrary code can be executed when an administrator attempts to use this executable from these compromised locations.

Weakness: CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write), CWE-122 (Heap-based Buffer Overflow)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-47039?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Perl Perl.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-47039?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2023-47039 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-47039 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6

- [CVE-2026-4176](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-4176/): Supply chain in perl (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2022-48522](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-48522/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2017-12814](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12814/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2015-8608](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-8608/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-13221](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-13221/): Integer overflow in perl:perl (critical 9.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-47039 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-47039 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, published on 2 Jan 2024. 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-2023-47039 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6. 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-2023-47039/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-47039/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-47039
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-47039
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-47039

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-47039/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.