CVE-2023-21566: Visual Studio Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Severity: high (CVSS 7.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.4% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2023-02-14 · updated 2026-08-19
Weakness: CWE-73

Description

Visual Studio Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Affected products

Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 version 15.9 (includes 15.0 - 15.8): from 15.0 before 15.9.52 — fixed in 15.9.52
Microsoft Visual Studio 2019: from 16.0 before 16.11.24 — fixed in 16.11.24
Microsoft Visual Studio 2022 version 17.14: from 17.0 before 17.0.19; from 17.2 before 17.2.13; from 17.4 before 17.4.5 — fixed in 17.0.19, 17.2.13, 17.4.5
Microsoft Visual Studio 2019 version 16.11 (includes 16.0 - 16.10): from 16.11.0 before 16.11.24 — fixed in 16.11.24
Microsoft Visual Studio 2022 version 17.0: from 17.0.0 before 17.0.19 — fixed in 17.0.19
Microsoft Visual Studio 2022 version 17.2: from 17.2.0 before 17.2.13 — fixed in 17.2.13
Microsoft Visual Studio 2022 version 17.4: from 17.4.0 before 17.4.5 — fixed in 17.4.5
Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 version 15.9 (includes 15.0 - 15.8): from 15.9.0 before 15.9.52 — fixed in 15.9.52

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 version 15.9 (includes 15.0 - 15.8) 15.9.52; Microsoft Visual Studio 2019 16.11.24; Microsoft Visual Studio 2022 version 17.14 17.0.19, 17.2.13, 17.4.5; Microsoft Visual Studio 2019 version 16.11 (includes 16.0 - 16.10) 16.11.24; Microsoft Visual Studio 2022 version 17.0 17.0.19; Microsoft Visual Studio 2022 version 17.2 17.2.13; Microsoft Visual Studio 2022 version 17.4 17.4.5; Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 version 15.9 (includes 15.0 - 15.8) 15.9.52. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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