# CVE-2010-5251: Path traversal in n/a

> Local attackers can gain privileges by placing malicious DLLs in the current working directory when opening specific file types.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.9 (`AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 7 Sep 2012
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-m5m5-7j9f-hwpx

## What is CVE-2010-5251?

CVE-2010-5251 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Ibm Lotus Notes, published on 7 Sep 2012. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Multiple untrusted search path vulnerabilities in IBM Lotus Notes 8.5 allow local users to gain privileges via a Trojan horse (1) nnoteswc.dll or (2) nlsxbe.dll file in the current working directory, as demonstrated by a directory that contains a .vcf, .vcs, or .ics file.  NOTE: the provenance of this information is unknown; the details are obtained solely from third party information.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2010-5251?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Ibm Lotus Notes.

## How do I fix CVE-2010-5251?

No fix has been published for CVE-2010-5251 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2010-5251 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2010-5251 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Ibm Lotus Notes

- [CVE-2010-1608](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-1608/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2009-3032](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-3032/): Integer overflow in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2004-2281](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-2281/): Other in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2004-0480](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-0480/): Command injection in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2012-2174](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-2174/): Code injection in n/a (critical 9.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2010-5251 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2010-5251 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Ibm Lotus Notes, published on 7 Sep 2012. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2010-5251 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Ibm Lotus Notes. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-5251/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-5251/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2010-5251
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2010-5251
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2010-5251

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2010-5251/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.