CVE-2023-36884 — Windows Search Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Executive Summary

None

Overview

7.5

CVSS HIGH

Important

MS Severity

Exploited

MS Exploit Status

Exploitation Detected

MS Exploit Likelihood

Category Remote Code Execution

Weakness CWE-362: Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition')

Released Jul 11 2023

Last Updated Jul 11 2023

Publicly Disclosed Yes

CISA KEV Listed (added 2023-07-17)

Known Exploits None Known

EPSS Score 0.98932 — 0.99925 percentile

NVD CVSS 7.5 HIGH — matches MSRC

CVSS Vector

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

ATTACK VECTOR

Network

ATTACK COMPLEXITY

High

PRIVILEGES REQUIRED

None

USER INTERACTION

Required

SCOPE

Unchanged

CONFIDENTIALITY

High

INTEGRITY

High

AVAILABILITY

High

EXPLOIT CODE MATURITY

Functional

REMEDIATION LEVEL

Official Fix

REPORT CONFIDENCE

Confirmed

Temporal Score: 7.0

EPSS Score

0.98932

probability of exploitation in the next 30 days

0.99925 percentile - updated 2026-08-14

View on FIRST.org

Affected Products

21 affected products

Product	KB Article	Severity	Impact	Restart Required
Windows 10 for 32-bit Systems	`5029259 (Security Update)`	Important	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows 10 for x64-based Systems	`5029259 (Security Update)`	Important	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1607 for 32-bit Systems	`5029242 (Security Update)`	Important	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1607 for x64-based Systems	`5029242 (Security Update)`	Important	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1809 for 32-bit Systems	`5029247 (Security Update)`	Important	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1809 for ARM64-based Systems	`5029247 (Security Update)`	Important	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1809 for x64-based Systems	`5029247 (Security Update)`	Important	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows 10 Version 21H2 for 32-bit Systems	`5029244 (Security Update)`	Important	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows 10 Version 21H2 for ARM64-based Systems	`5029244 (Security Update)`	Important	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows 10 Version 21H2 for x64-based Systems	`5029244 (Security Update)`	Important	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows 10 Version 22H2 for 32-bit Systems	`5029244 (Security Update)`	Important	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows 10 Version 22H2 for ARM64-based Systems	`5029244 (Security Update)`	Important	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows 10 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems	`5029244 (Security Update)`	Important	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows 11 version 21H2 for ARM64-based Systems	`5029253 (Security Update)`	Important	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows 11 version 21H2 for x64-based Systems	`5029253 (Security Update)`	Important	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows 11 Version 22H2 for ARM64-based Systems	`5029263 (Security Update)`	Important	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows 11 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems	`5029263 (Security Update)`	Important	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2 5029318 (Monthly Rollup) 5029301 (Security Only) Important Remote Code Execution 5028222 Base: 7.5 Temporal: 7.0 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:F/RL:O/RC:C 6.0.6003.22216 Yes 5029318 5029301 Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2 (Server Core installation) 5029318 (Monthly Rollup) 5029301 (Security Only) Important Remote Code Execution 5028222 Base: 7.5 Temporal: 7.0 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:F/RL:O/RC:C 6.0.6003.22216 Yes 5029318 5029301 Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2 5029318 (Monthly Rollup) 5029301 (Security Only) Important Remote Code Execution 5028222 Base: 7.5 Temporal: 7.0 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:F/RL:O/RC:C 6.0.6003.22216 Yes 5029318 5029301 Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2 (Server Core installation) 5029318 (Monthly Rollup) 5029301 (Security Only) Important Remote Code Execution 5028222 Base: 7.5 Temporal: 7.0 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:F/RL:O/RC:C 6.0.6003.22216 Yes 5029318 5029301 Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1 5029296 (Monthly Rollup) 5029307 (Security Only) Important Remote Code Execution 5028240 Base: 7.5 Temporal: 7.0 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:F/RL:O/RC:C 6.1.7601.26664 Yes 5029296 5029307 Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1 (Server Core installation) 5029296 (Monthly Rollup) 5029307 (Security Only) Important Remote Code Execution 5028240 Base: 7.5 Temporal: 7.0 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:F/RL:O/RC:C 6.1.7601.26664 Yes 5029296 5029307 Windows Server 2012 5029295 (Monthly Rollup) 5029308 (Security Only) Important Remote Code Execution 5028232 Base: 7.5 Temporal: 7.0 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:F/RL:O/RC:C 6.2.9200.24414 Yes None Windows Server 2012 (Server Core installation) 5029295 (Monthly Rollup) 5029308 (Security Only) Important Remote Code Execution 5028232 Base: 7.5 Temporal: 7.0 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:F/RL:O/RC:C 6.2.9200.24414 Yes None Windows Server 2012 R2 5029312 (Monthly Rollup) 5029304 (Security Only) Important Remote Code Execution 5028228 Base: 7.5 Temporal: 7.0 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:F/RL:O/RC:C 6.3.9600.21503 Yes None Windows Server 2012 R2 (Server Core installation) 5029312 (Monthly Rollup) 5029304 (Security Only) Important Remote Code Execution 5028228 Base: 7.5 Temporal: 7.0 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:F/RL:O/RC:C 6.3.9600.21503 Yes None Windows Server 2016	`5029242 (Security Update)`	Important	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows Server 2016 (Server Core installation)	`5029242 (Security Update)`	Important	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows Server 2019	`5029247 (Security Update)`	Important	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows Server 2019 (Server Core installation)	`5029247 (Security Update)`	Important	Remote Code Execution	Yes

Patches

6 patches

Article	Type	Restart
`5029259`	Security Update	Yes
`5029242`	Security Update	Yes
`5029247`	Security Update	Yes
`5029244`	Security Update	Yes
`5029253`	Security Update	Yes
`5029263`	Security Update	Yes

Exploits & PoC

9 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
jakabakos/CVE-2023-36884-MS-Office-HTML-RCE	41	2023-09-28	MS Office and Windows HTML RCE (CVE-2023-36884) - PoC and exploit
Maxwitat/CVE-2023-36884-Scripts-for-Intune-Remediation-SCCM-Compliance-Baseline	26	2023-07-12	The remediation script should set the reg entries described in https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2023-36884 . The detection script checks if they exist. Provided AS-IS without
tarraschk/CVE-2023-36884-Checker	15	2023-07-17	Script to check for CVE-2023-36884 hardening
zerosorai/CVE-2023-36884	2	2023-07-15	This is an emergency solution while Microsoft addresses the vulnerability.
ridsoliveira/Fix-CVE-2023-36884	2	2023-07-28
deepinstinct/Storm0978-RomCom-Campaign	1	2023-07-13	Recent Campaign abusing CVE-2023-36884
raresteak/CVE-2023-36884	1	2023-07-30	#comeonits2023 #ie9 #Storm-0978
or2me/CVE-2023-36884_patcher	0	2023-07-18	CVE-2023-36884 临时补丁
ToddMaxey/CVE-2023-36884	0	2023-07-20	PowerShell Script for initial mitigation of vulnerability

Detection Rules

Detection available

Community detection & vulnerability-scanning rules aggregated from Sigma and Nuclei templates. Validate and tune to your environment before deploying.

Sigma rules 6

Potential CVE-2023-36884 Exploitation Pattern critical Potential CVE-2023-36884 URL Request Pattern Traffic high Potential CVE-2023-36884 Exploitation - URL Marker high Potential CVE-2023-36884 Exploitation - Share Access high Potential CVE-2023-36884 Exploitation Dropped File medium Potential CVE-2023-36884 Exploitation - File Downloads medium

Acknowledgments

Microsoft Office Product Group Security Team
Tom Lancaster
Paul Rascagneres
Vlad Stolyarov, Clement Lecigne and Bahare Sabouri of Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG)
Microsoft Threat Intelligence

References

MSRC Advisory MITRE NVD