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Threats / Microsoft / CVE-2023-36025
CVE-2023-36025 · EUVD no mirror located · GCVE no mirror located Verified 2026-06-22

Microsoft Windows vulnerability

Microsoft Windows SmartScreen security feature bypass allows attackers to circumvent Windows Defender SmartScreen checks and associated user prompts.

Verdict

Today item — known-exploited.

A security feature bypass in Windows SmartScreen enables attackers to evade malware detection warnings. The high EPSS score and active exploitation indicate significant risk to Windows users relying on SmartScreen protection.

CISA KEV Yes · 2023-11-143EPSS 0.88196 (verify live)4Exploit Public PoC5
01

Is it exploitable?

— the evidence, ranked above the score
Exploit available
Public proof-of-concept exploit code is cataloged for this vulnerability.We link the existence of the exploit; we do not host or redistribute payloads.
Reported exploitation
19 independent public reports of in-the-wild exploitation are cataloged.Distinct reporting sources (vendor, incident response, government); open them for the underlying claims.
Exploited in the wild
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2023-11-14).
CISA KEV ↗Confirmed
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.88196 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
Affected: Microsoft, Windows. Confirm exact fixed builds in the vendor advisory.
NVD ↗Reported
02

Who’s exploiting it?

— attribution turns risk into urgency
Attribution not established

No confirmed (advisory-backed) threat-actor attribution is established for this record. Absence of a named actor is not absence of compromise — see Coverage & confidence.

03

Why it matters

— the attack path, told twice: adversary, then board
1

Front door — unauthenticated access narrative 1

Attacker
I craft malicious content or executables designed to trigger SmartScreen warnings.
Business
End users lose a critical layer of protection against malware and phishing attacks.
2

Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2

Attacker
I exploit the bypass to deliver the malicious payload without user-facing security prompts.
Business
Attack success rates increase as users encounter no warnings, leading to higher infection rates across the customer base.
3

Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3

Attacker
I distribute compromised files or links that bypass SmartScreen detection at scale.
Business
Organizations face increased incident response costs, data breach risks, and reputational damage from widespread malware infections.
04

What to do

— defensible action
  • Remediate per the vendor advisory — confirm the fixed build for your version and verify exposure.1
Say it to the boardA vulnerability with this evidence profile is a defensible budget line, not a backlog ticket — fund the change against the proof above.
05

Coverage & confidence

— what we know, and what we don’t

Established (cited)

  • KEV listing (CISA)
  • EPSS probability (FIRST)
  • Public PoC available (VulnCheck)
  • 19 reported-exploitation source(s)
  • Public exploit availability
  • Catalogued by microsoft (CNA)
  • Coverage gaps — stated, not hidden

  • No EUVD / GCVE mirror in feed — single-authority dependency for the identifier.
  • EPSS & exposure are time-varying; verify live at the source.
  • Threat-actor attribution not established from feed data — absence of a name is not absence of compromise.
  • No finder/reporter credit recorded in the public CVE entry — the work behind this find is unattributed.
  • Disclosure & credit2
    Catalogued by microsoftCNA
    Credited with finding itNo finder named in the public CVE record — the work behind this find is unattributed.