CVE & CISA-KEV Catalog

CVE-2023-34298

HIGH
7.8
CVSS v3
NVD

Description

Pulse Secure Client SetupService Directory Traversal Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows local attackers to escalate privileges on affected installations of Pulse Secure Client. An attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within SetupService. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of a user-supplied path prior to using it in file operations. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to escalate privileges and execute arbitrary code in the context of the service. Was ZDI-CAN-17687.

How to fix

Remediation Available
pulse secure desktop clientNVD
Affected:< 9.1Fixed in:9.1CVE-2023-34298derived from NVD

Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.

CVSS v3 Vector

Exploitability

Attack VectorLocal
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredLow
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged

Impact

ConfidentialityHigh
IntegrityHigh
AvailabilityHigh

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Exploit Intelligence

0.97%probability of exploitation in 30 days
58thpercentile

Moderate risk: more likely to be exploited than 58% of all known CVEs.

References

Vendor Advisory1
Third-Party Advisory1

Related Vulnerabilities

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CVE-2021-26086Medium5.3100%KEVFix
CVE-2021-22005Critical9.8100%KEV + RansomFix
CVE-2020-5902Critical9.8100%KEV + RansomFix
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This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2025-08-13.