CVE-2023-35174 is a high-severity (CVSS 8.6) remote code execution vulnerability in livebook. A fix is available for livebook — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Livebook Desktop's protocol handler can be exploited to execute arbitrary command on Windows
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2023-35174.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2023-35174 plotted by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). The shaded corner — EPSS 50%+ and CVSS 7.0+ — is where this CVE doesn't sit, though severity or exploitability alone can still warrant action.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 378,567 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Real counts from FIRST.org, not a sample — log-scaled since the landscape is heavily right-skewed.
Real-World Exposure
livebook💧livebookReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Hex packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Livebook is a web application for writing interactive and collaborative code notebooks. On Windows, it is possible to open a livebook:// link from a browser which opens Livebook Desktop and triggers arbitrary code execution on victim's machine. Any user using Livebook Desktop on Windows is potentially vulnerable to arbitrary code execution when they expect Livebook to be opened from browser. This vulnerability has been fixed in version 0.8.2 and 0.9.3.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 💧Hex | livebook | ≥ 0.8.0&&< 0.8.2 | 0.8.2mix deps.update livebook |
| 💧Hex | livebook | ≥ 0.9.0&&< 0.9.3 | 0.9.3mix deps.update livebook |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for livebook, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update livebook to 0.8.2 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2023-35174 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like CVE-2023-35174 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to CVE-2023-35174. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2023-35174 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds CVE-2023-35174 across Hex dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.