CVE-2023-41266

A path traversal vulnerability found in Qlik Sense Enterprise for Windows for versions May 2023 Patch 3 and earlier, February 2023 Patch 7 and earlier, November 2022 Patch 10 and earlier, and August 2022 Patch 12 and earlier allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to generate an anonymous session. This allows them to transmit HTTP requests to unauthorized endpoints. This is fixed in August 2023 IR, May 2023 Patch 4, February 2023 Patch 8, November 2022 Patch 11, and August 2022 Patch 13.

CVSS: 8.2Highscored by the publisher (CNA)
Exploited in the wild: Yes, in CISA KEV since 7 Dec 2023CISA deadline for US federal agencies: 28 Dec 2023known use in ransomware campaigns
EPSS: 84.8%chance of exploitation in the next 30 daystop 0.3% of scored CVEsFIRST score of 11 Nov 2026
Fix: Patch availablesee the advisories in the references
Published: 29 Aug 2023analysed here 12 Nov 2026

Do first. Apply remediations or mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if remediation or mitigations are unavailable. (CISA's required action for this KEV entry)

Summary

Triage

Attack surface: Server-side
Exploitable: At runtime
Attack vector: network
Weakness: CWE-22 Path Traversal

The summary, impact and action text on this page are written by our AI analysis pipeline, or taken from the NVD description when a CVE was imported from NVD. They are not the vendor's wording: check them against the sources. A longer AI executive summary and technical analysis are generated for signed-in accounts on the Max plan.

Affected products

Products named in our analysis

qlik:qlik_sense

Fix and mitigation

WAF and other mitigations

Can a WAF block it? Yes. The vulnerability involves path traversal via HTTP requests, which typically include ../ sequences to access unauthorized files or endpoints. A WAF can detect and block such unusual path traversal patterns that normal requests do not contain. A WAF rule can match ../ sequences in the URL or parameters. No tracked WAF vendor has published a rule for this CVE yet, so you would write it yourself.

What a custom rule would match: ../ sequences in the URL or parameters

Also consider: patch · custom WAF rule · canonical path validation

Based on an AI reading of the CVE description, and no vendor rule found yet. We check Cloudflare, AWS, Google Cloud Armor and Azure; for Akamai, Imperva, Fastly, F5, ask your vendor.

Remediation steps (AI-written)

Step-by-step remediation is generated for accounts on the Max plan, for CVEs that match a technology in their stack. Add this technology to your stack to see the fix checklist.

Exploitation evidence

CISA KEV catalog: Listed since 7 Dec 2023. Known use in ransomware campaigns.
CISA due date: 28 Dec 2023, the remediation deadline for US federal agencies
CISA required action: Apply remediations or mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if remediation or mitigations are unavailable.
Public exploit code: Detection templates only, no public exploit found: 1 Nuclei template
CISA SSVC: exploitation active, automatable yes, technical impact totalAssessed by CISA 29 Nov 2023 (SSVC 2.0.3). Exploitation is none, poc (public proof of concept) or active.

Nuclei

Qlik Sense Enterprise - Path Traversaldetection template, medium

Listed so you can judge urgency, not as a recommendation to run anything. GitHub “proofs of concept” are unvetted: some are fake or carry malware. Exploit-DB marks the entries its staff verified.

Timeline

29 Aug 2023Published
29 Nov 2023CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation active91 days (about 3 months) later
7 Dec 2023Added to CISA KEV (exploited in the wild)8 days later
28 Dec 2023CISA remediation due date (US federal agencies)21 days later
5 Aug 2026CVE record last updated951 days (about 3 years) later
12 Nov 2026Analysed by vulneraibility.com99 days (about 3 months) later

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N

Metric	Value	What it means
Attack vector	NetworkReachable over the internet or any routable network.	Reachable over the internet or any routable network.
Attack complexity	LowRepeatable attack, no special conditions.	Repeatable attack, no special conditions.
Privileges required	NoneThe attacker needs no prior access.	The attacker needs no prior access.
User interaction	NoneNo victim action needed.	No victim action needed.
Scope	UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.	Impact stays within the vulnerable component.
Confidentiality	HighTotal data disclosure possible.	Total data disclosure possible.
Integrity	LowLimited modification possible.	Limited modification possible.
Availability	NoneThe service stays up.	The service stays up.

Common questions

Is CVE-2023-41266 being exploited?

Yes. CVE-2023-41266 appears in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which means exploitation in the wild has been confirmed and reported. Treat it as active rather than theoretical, and patch it ahead of higher-scoring vulnerabilities that carry no exploitation evidence.

How severe is CVE-2023-41266?

CVE-2023-41266 is rated High with a CVSS score of 8.2. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.

Is there a patch for CVE-2023-41266?

Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2023-41266. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.

What does CVE-2023-41266 affect?

CVE-2023-41266 affects qlik:qlik_sense. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.

Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.

References

NVD CVE.org CVE Details Source

3 references in the CVE record, grouped by the tags the record gives them.

Where the data on this page comes from

CVE List (CVE.org): description, affected versions, references; CVE Terms of Use
NVD: CVSS and CPE data
CISA KEV catalog: exploitation, date added, due date
CISA Vulnrichment (ADP): SSVC decision points
FIRST EPSS: exploit probability and percentile
Nuclei templates: detection templates

Summary, impact and triage tags: written by our AI analysis pipeline from the sources above. Check them against the sources.

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