CVE-2023-38146

HIGHNVD 8.89.0▲Weaponized

8.8

Windows Themes Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

CVSS v3: 8.8
EG Score: 9.0(high)
EPSS: 99.4%
KEV: Not listed

Published

September 12, 2023

Last Modified

January 1, 2025

References (3)

secure@microsofthttps://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2023-38146
af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/176391/Themebleed-Windows-11-Themes-Arbitrary-Code-Execution.html
af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2023-38146

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

CWE-367Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition

All Vendor Advisories

(1)

Every vendor that published an advisory referencing this CVE — pulled from our cve_vendor_advisories aggregation. Click any row for the vendor's original advisory page.

Microsoft MSRCCVE-2023-381462023-09-12
Windows Themes Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 11× in last 7d / 18× in last 30d)

Every time one of our enrichment pipelines (NVD, MITRE cvelistV5, EPSS, CISA KEV, GHSA, OSV, vendor advisories) ran against this CVE. Most recent first.

2026-06-01 13:51 UTCepss_batch
2026-06-01 13:51 UTCepss_batch
2026-05-31 22:30 UTCepss_batch
2026-05-31 22:29 UTCepss_batch
2026-05-31 22:29 UTCepss_batch
2026-05-31 00:15 UTCepss_batch
2026-05-31 00:15 UTCepss_batch
2026-05-29 13:43 UTCepss_batch
2026-05-29 13:43 UTCepss_batch
2026-05-28 13:43 UTCepss_batch
2026-05-28 13:43 UTCepss_batch
2026-05-27 13:39 UTCepss_batch
2026-05-26 07:18 UTCepss_batch
2026-05-26 07:18 UTCepss_batch
2026-05-26 07:18 UTCepss_batch
2026-05-24 17:41 UTCEG score recompute
2026-05-24 17:41 UTCVendor advisory
2026-05-24 17:41 UTCGHSA enrichment

Publicly available exploits

(4 references)

Working exploit code is in the public domain (1 Metasploit module) (3 GitHub PoCs). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.

GitHub PoCDurge5/ThemeBleedPy
First seen Dec 12, 2023
A proof of concept using python for the CVE-2023-38146 "ThemeBleed"
Open source ↗
GitHub PoCJnnshschl/CVE-2023-38146
First seen Oct 13, 2023
PoC for the ThemeBleed Windows 11 CVE-2023-38146 written in python using impacket. https://jnns.de/posts/cve-2023-38146-poc/
Open source ↗
GitHub PoCexploits-forsale/themebleed
First seen Sep 13, 2023
Proof-of-Concept for CVE-2023-38146 ("ThemeBleed")
Open source ↗
Metasploitexploit/windows/fileformat/theme_dll_hijack_cve_2023_38146✓ verified
First seen Sep 13, 2023
Themebleed- Windows 11 Themes Arbitrary Code Execution CVE-2023-38146
Open source ↗

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2023-38146?

CVE-2023-38146 is a high vulnerability published on September 12, 2023. Windows Themes Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

When was CVE-2023-38146 disclosed?

CVE-2023-38146 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on September 12, 2023, with the most recent update on January 1, 2025. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.

Is CVE-2023-38146 actively exploited?

CVE-2023-38146 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 99.4% percentile likelihood of exploitation in the next 30 days — higher percentiles indicate greater predicted risk.

What is the CVSS score of CVE-2023-38146?

CVE-2023-38146 has a CVSS v3 base score of 8.8 (NVD). EchelonGraph synthesises NVD + CISA KEV + FIRST EPSS + GHSA into a combined EG score of 9.0.

How do I remediate CVE-2023-38146?

Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2023-38146, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

Dependency Blast Radius

See which npm, PyPI, Go, and Maven packages are affected by CVE-2023-38146

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CVE-2023-38146

Published

Last Modified

References (3)

Weakness Classification(1)

All Vendor Advisories

Data Freshness Timeline

Publicly available exploits

Frequently asked(5)

Dependency Blast Radius

Is Your Infrastructure Affected by CVE-2023-38146?

Same vendor

Same CWE

CVE-2023-38146

📅 Published

🔄 Last Modified

🔗 References (3)

Weakness Classification(1)

All Vendor Advisories

Data Freshness Timeline

Publicly available exploits

❓ Frequently asked(5)

Dependency Blast Radius

Is Your Infrastructure Affected by CVE-2023-38146?

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