# CVE-2023-50236: Privilege escalation in Polarion ALM

> Local attackers can escalate privileges to SYSTEM due to weak file and folder permissions in the Polarion ALM installation path.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:P/RL:O/RC:C`)
- **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:** 13 Feb 2024
- **Updated:** 7 May 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-8hrh-hhv8-xf2w

## What is CVE-2023-50236?

CVE-2023-50236 is a high-severity vulnerability in Siemens Polarion ALM, published on 13 Feb 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability has been identified in Polarion ALM (All versions < V2404.0). The affected product is vulnerable due to weak file and folder permissions in the installation path. An attacker with local access could exploit this vulnerability to escalate privileges to NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM.

Weakness: CWE-276 (Incorrect Default Permissions)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-50236?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Siemens Polarion Alm.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-50236?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-50236 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-50236 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-50236 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Siemens Polarion ALM

- [CVE-2024-23813](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-23813/): Missing authorization in Polarion ALM (high 7.3)
- [CVE-2024-51444](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-51444/): SQL injection in Polarion V2310 (high 7.1)
- [CVE-2024-51445](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-51445/): XML external entity in Polarion V2310 (high 7.1)
- [CVE-2024-51447](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-51447/): Information disclosure in Polarion V2310 (medium 6.9)
- [CVE-2021-44478](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-44478/): Cross-site scripting in Polarion ALM (medium 6.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-50236 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-50236 is a high-severity vulnerability in Siemens Polarion ALM, published on 13 Feb 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-2023-50236 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Siemens Polarion ALM. 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-2023-50236/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-50236/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-50236
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-50236
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-50236

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-50236/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.