ESET NOD32 Antivirus: Uncontrolled Search Path Element
CVE-2024-11859 is a high-severity uncontrolled search path element vulnerability in ESET NOD32 Antivirus from ESET, spol. s r.o., with a CVSS 4.0 base score of 8.4 out of 10. It can be exploited with local access to the system by an attacker with a low-privileged account, without any action from a user. Affected ESET NOD32 Antivirus versions: 18.0.12.0 and earlier. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 2.07% chance of exploitation within 30 days, higher than 82% of scored CVEs.
High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.
What to do
- Check which version of ESET NOD32 Antivirus you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| ESET, spol. s r.o. | ESET NOD32 Antivirus | 18.0.12.0 and earlier | Not stated |
| ESET, spol. s r.o. | ESET Internet Security | 18.0.12.0 and earlier | Not stated |
| ESET, spol. s r.o. | ESET Smart Security Premium | 18.0.12.0 and earlier | Not stated |
| ESET, spol. s r.o. | ESET Security Ultimate | 18.0.12.0 and earlier | Not stated |
| ESET, spol. s r.o. | ESET Endpoint Antivirus for Windows | 12.0.2038.0 and earlier; 11.1.2053.2 and earlier | Not stated |
| ESET, spol. s r.o. | ESET Endpoint Security for Windows | 12.0.2038.0 and earlier; 11.1.2053.2 and earlier | Not stated |
| ESET, spol. s r.o. | ESET Small Business Security | 18.0.12.0 and earlier | Not stated |
| ESET, spol. s r.o. | ESET Safe Server | 18.0.12.0 and earlier | Not stated |
| ESET, spol. s r.o. | ESET Server Security for Windows Server | 11.1.12005.2 and earlier | Not stated |
| ESET, spol. s r.o. | ESET Mail Security for Microsoft Exchange Server | 11.1.10008.0 and earlier; 11.0.10008.0 and earlier; 10.1.10014.0 and earlier | Not stated |
| ESET, spol. s r.o. | ESET Security for Microsoft SharePoint Server | 11.1.15001.0 and earlier; 11.0.15004.0 and earlier; 10.0.15005.1 and earlier | Not stated |
Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.
How the severity score breaks down
- Attack vector
- LocalThe attacker needs local access or must trick a user into running something.
- Attack complexity
- LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
- Attack requirements
- NoneThe attack does not depend on a particular deployment or configuration.
- Privileges required
- LowA basic user account is enough.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Confidentiality (vulnerable system)
- HighSerious loss of confidentiality on the vulnerable system.
- Integrity (vulnerable system)
- HighSerious loss of integrity on the vulnerable system.
- Availability (vulnerable system)
- NoneNo loss of availability on the vulnerable system.
- Confidentiality (other systems)
- NoneNo loss of confidentiality on systems beyond the vulnerable one.
- Integrity (other systems)
- NoneNo loss of integrity on systems beyond the vulnerable one.
- Availability (other systems)
- NoneNo loss of availability on systems beyond the vulnerable one.
Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X. Scored by CNA (eset.com).
Official description
DLL Search Order Hijacking vulnerability potentially allowed an attacker with administrator privileges to load a malicious dynamic-link library and execute its code.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Uncontrolled Search Path Element
The product uses a fixed or controlled search path to find resources, but one or more locations in that path can be under the control of unintended actors.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- Hard-code the search path to a set of known-safe values (such as system directories), or only allow them to be specified by the administrator in a configuration file. Do not allow these settings to be modified by an external party. Be careful to avoid related weaknesses such as CWE-426 and CWE-428.
- When invoking other programs, specify those programs using fully-qualified pathnames. While this is an effective approach, code that uses fully-qualified pathnames might not be portable to other systems that do not use the same pathnames. The portability can be improved by locating the full-qualified paths in a centralized, easily-modifiable location within the source code, and having the code refer to these paths.
- Remove or restrict all environment settings before invoking other programs. This includes the PATH environment variable, LD_LIBRARY_PATH, and other settings that identify the location of code libraries, and any application-specific search paths.
More Uncontrolled Search Path Element vulnerabilities (CWE-427)
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: total).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Other references
Other vulnerabilities in ESET NOD32 Antivirus
- 8.5 High severity
- 7.8 High severity
- 8.6 High severity
- 7.8 High severity
- 7.1 High severity
Recent Uncontrolled Search Path Element vulnerabilities
- 7.8 High severity
- 8.5 High severity
- 7.8 High severity
- 7.3 High severity
- 7.3 High severity
- 7.8 High severity
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