CVE-2023-28143: Local Privilege Escalation

Severity: high (CVSS 7.0 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2023-04-18 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-426

Description

Qualys Cloud Agent for macOS (versions 2.5.1-75 before 3.7) installer allows a local escalation of privilege bounded only to the time of installation and only on older macOSX (macOS 10.15 and older) versions. Attackers may exploit incorrect file permissions to give them ROOT command execution privileges on the host. During the install of the PKG, a step in the process involves extracting the package and copying files to several directories. Attackers may gain writable access to files during the install of PKG when extraction of the package and copying files to several directories, enabling a local escalation of privilege.

Affected products

Qualys Cloud Agent: from 2.5.1-75 before 3.7 — fixed in 3.7

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Qualys Cloud Agent 3.7. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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