CVE-2023-21563 — BitLocker Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability

Executive Summary

None

Overview

6.8

CVSS MEDIUM

Important

MS Severity

Not Exploited

MS Exploit Status

Less Likely

MS Exploit Likelihood

Category Security Feature Bypass

Released Jan 10 2023

Last Updated Jan 10 2023

Publicly Disclosed No

CISA KEV Not Listed

Known Exploits None Known

EPSS Score 0.01548 — 0.72846 percentile

NVD CVSS 6.8 MEDIUM — matches MSRC

CVSS Vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C

ATTACK VECTOR

Physical

ATTACK COMPLEXITY

Low

PRIVILEGES REQUIRED

None

USER INTERACTION

None

SCOPE

Unchanged

CONFIDENTIALITY

High

INTEGRITY

High

AVAILABILITY

High

EXPLOIT CODE MATURITY

Unproven

REMEDIATION LEVEL

Official Fix

REPORT CONFIDENCE

Confirmed

Temporal Score: 5.9

EPSS Score

0.01548

probability of exploitation in the next 30 days

0.72846 percentile - updated 2026-08-14

View on FIRST.org

Affected Products

26 affected products

Product	KB Article	Severity	Impact	Restart Required
Windows 10 for 32-bit Systems	`5022297 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 10 for x64-based Systems	`5022297 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1607 for 32-bit Systems	`5022289 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1607 for x64-based Systems	`5022289 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1809 for 32-bit Systems	`5022286 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1809 for ARM64-based Systems	`5022286 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1809 for x64-based Systems	`5022286 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 10 Version 20H2 for 32-bit Systems	`5022282 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 10 Version 20H2 for ARM64-based Systems	`5022282 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 10 Version 21H2 for 32-bit Systems	`5022282 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 10 Version 21H2 for ARM64-based Systems	`5022282 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 10 Version 21H2 for x64-based Systems	`5022282 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 10 Version 22H2 for 32-bit Systems	`5022282 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 10 Version 22H2 for ARM64-based Systems	`5022282 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 10 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems	`5022282 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 11 version 21H2 for ARM64-based Systems	`5022287 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 11 version 21H2 for x64-based Systems	`5022287 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 11 Version 22H2 for ARM64-based Systems	`5022303 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 11 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems	`5022303 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 7 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 1 5022338 (Monthly Rollup) 5022339 (Security Only) Important Security Feature Bypass 5021291 Base: 6.8 Temporal: 5.9 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C 6.1.7601.26321 Yes 5022338 5022339 Windows 7 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1 5022338 (Monthly Rollup) 5022339 (Security Only) Important Security Feature Bypass 5021291 Base: 6.8 Temporal: 5.9 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C 6.1.7601.26321 Yes 5022338 5022339 Windows 8.1 for 32-bit systems 5022352 (Monthly Rollup) 5022346 (Security Only) Important Security Feature Bypass 5021294 Base: 6.8 Temporal: 5.9 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C 6.3.9600.20778 Yes 5022352 5022346 Windows 8.1 for x64-based systems 5022352 (Monthly Rollup) 5022346 (Security Only) Important Security Feature Bypass 5021294 Base: 6.8 Temporal: 5.9 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C 6.3.9600.20778 Yes 5022352 5022346 Windows RT 8.1	`5022346 (Security Only)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2 5022340 (Monthly Rollup) 5022353 (Security Only) Important Security Feature Bypass 5021289 Base: 6.8 Temporal: 5.9 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C 6.0.6003.21872 Yes 5022340 5022353 Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2 (Server Core installation) 5022340 (Monthly Rollup) 5022353 (Security Only) Important Security Feature Bypass 5021289 Base: 6.8 Temporal: 5.9 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C 6.0.6003.21872 Yes 5022340 5022353 Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2 5022340 (Monthly Rollup) 5022353 (Security Only) Important Security Feature Bypass 5021289 Base: 6.8 Temporal: 5.9 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C 6.0.6003.21872 Yes 5022340 5022353 Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2 (Server Core installation) 5022340 (Monthly Rollup) 5022353 (Security Only) Important Security Feature Bypass 5021289 Base: 6.8 Temporal: 5.9 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C 6.0.6003.21872 Yes 5022340 5022353 Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1 5022338 (Monthly Rollup) 5022339 (Security Only) Important Security Feature Bypass 5021291 Base: 6.8 Temporal: 5.9 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C 6.1.7601.26321 Yes 5022338 5022339 Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1 (Server Core installation) 5022338 (Monthly Rollup) 5022339 (Security Only) Important Security Feature Bypass 5021291 Base: 6.8 Temporal: 5.9 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C 6.1.7601.26321 Yes 5022338 5022339 Windows Server 2012 5022348 (Monthly Rollup) 5022343 (Security Only) Important Security Feature Bypass 5021285 Base: 6.8 Temporal: 5.9 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C 6.2.9200.24075 Yes 5022348 5022343 Windows Server 2012 (Server Core installation) 5022348 (Monthly Rollup) 5022343 (Security Only) Important Security Feature Bypass 5021285 Base: 6.8 Temporal: 5.9 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C 6.2.9200.24075 Yes 5022348 5022343 Windows Server 2012 R2 5022352 (Monthly Rollup) 5022346 (Security Only) Important Security Feature Bypass 5021294 Base: 6.8 Temporal: 5.9 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C 6.3.9600.20778 Yes 5022352 5022346 Windows Server 2012 R2 (Server Core installation) 5022352 (Monthly Rollup) 5022346 (Security Only) Important Security Feature Bypass 5021294 Base: 6.8 Temporal: 5.9 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C 6.3.9600.20778 Yes 5022352 5022346 Windows Server 2016	`5022289 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows Server 2016 (Server Core installation)	`5022289 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows Server 2019	`5022286 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows Server 2019 (Server Core installation)	`5022286 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows Server 2022	`5022291 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows Server 2022 (Server Core installation)	`5022291 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes

Patches

8 patches

Article	Type	Restart
`5022297`	Security Update	Yes
`5022289`	Security Update	Yes
`5022286`	Security Update	Yes
`5022282`	Security Update	Yes
`5022287`	Security Update	Yes
`5022303`	Security Update	Yes
`5022346`	Security Only	Yes
`5022291`	Security Update	Yes

Exploits & PoC

2 public PoCs

Unverified third-party code

Public proof-of-concept repositories aggregated from PoC-in-GitHub. They are not reviewed and may be incomplete, non-functional, or malicious — inspect the code before running anything.

Repository	Stars	Published	Description
c-sprinks/bitlocker-bypass-research	3	2026-04-12	BitLocker full-disk encryption bypass research using CVE-2023-21563 (BitPixie). Methodology, exploit chain, and defensive recommendations.
LR2006-Robot/bitpixie	3	2026-05-23	Cracking BitLocker encryption based on CVE-2023-21563 vulnerability

Detection Rules

No public Sigma or Nuclei detection rule has been mapped to this CVE yet. Coverage is concentrated on exploited / high-profile vulnerabilities; check SigmaHQ for updates.

Acknowledgments

Zammis Clark

References

MSRC Advisory MITRE NVD