CVE-2018-20211 Privilege escalation in n/a

High 7.8 Published 2 Jan 2019 Updated 5 Aug 2024

Local attackers can escalate privileges via DLL hijacking in ExifTool by placing a malicious DLL in a predictable temporary directory.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Not needed
Attackable: Local or same network only
Victim action needed: A user has to click or open something
Fix: None listed

What is CVE-2018-20211?

CVE-2018-20211 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 2 Jan 2019. 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

ExifTool 8.32 allows local users to gain privileges by creating a %TEMP%\par-%username%\cache-exiftool-8.32 folder with a victim's username, and then copying a Trojan horse ws32_32.dll file into this new folder, aka DLL Hijacking. NOTE: 8.32 is an obsolete version from 2010 (9.x was released starting in 2012, and 10.x was released starting in 2015).

Weakness: CWE-427

Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-20211?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Exiftool Project Exiftool.

How do I fix CVE-2018-20211?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-20211 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

Is CVE-2018-20211 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-20211 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Sources

Also known as GHSA-cj4c-xvfc-fw73.