# CVE-2018-7884: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Attackers can achieve SYSTEM privileges by hijacking DLLs in the temporary folder during DisplayLink driver updates.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **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 available:** No
- **Published:** 5 Jun 2018
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-rrpg-pf95-vx86

## What is CVE-2018-7884?

CVE-2018-7884 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 5 Jun 2018. 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

An issue was discovered in DisplayLink Core Software Cleaner Application 8.2.1956. When the drivers are updated to a newer version, the product launches a process as SYSTEM to uninstall the old version: cl_1956.exe is run as SYSTEM on the %systemroot%\Temp folder, where any user can write a DLL (e.g., version.dll) to perform DLL Hijacking and elevate privileges to SYSTEM.

Weakness: CWE-426 (Untrusted Search Path)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-7884?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Displaylink Core Software Cleaner.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-7884?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-7884 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2018-7884 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-7884 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-7884 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-7884 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 5 Jun 2018. 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-2018-7884 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. 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-2018-7884/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-7884/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-7884
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-7884
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-7884

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-7884/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.