# CVE-2021-34409: Zoom Client Installer Local Privilege Escalation

> Local attackers can escalate privileges by exploiting insecure file permissions in Zoom installer scripts to execute arbitrary commands.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 27 Sep 2021
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-qc3j-qcr3-434w

## What is CVE-2021-34409?

CVE-2021-34409 is a high-severity vulnerability in Zoom Rooms, published on 27 Sep 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

It was discovered that the installation packages of the Zoom Client for Meetings for MacOS (Standard and for IT Admin) installation before version 5.2.0, Zoom Client Plugin for Sharing iPhone/iPad before version 5.2.0, and Zoom Rooms for Conference before version 5.1.0, copy pre- and post- installation shell scripts to a user-writable directory. In the affected products listed below, a malicious actor with local access to a user's machine could use this flaw to potentially run arbitrary system commands in a higher privileged context during the installation process.

Weakness: CWE-732 (Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-34409?

It affects 3 products.


Products: Zoom Meetings, Zoom Rooms, Zoom Screen Sharing.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-34409?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-34409 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-34409 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-34409 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Zoom Rooms

- [CVE-2021-33907](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-33907/): Code injection in Zoom Client for Meetings for Windows (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2022-28768](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-28768/): Local Privilege Escalation in Zoom Client Installer for macOS (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2022-28763](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-28763/): Improper URL parsing in Zoom Clients (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2022-28757](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-28757/): Local Privilege Escalation in Auto Updater for Zoom Client for Meetings for macOS (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2022-28751](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-28751/): Local Privilege Escalation in Zoom Client for Meetings for MacOS (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-34409 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-34409 is a high-severity vulnerability in Zoom Rooms, published on 27 Sep 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-34409 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Zoom Rooms. 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-2021-34409/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-34409/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-34409
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-34409
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-34409

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-34409/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.