# CVE-2021-42809: The Sentinel Protection Installer 7.7.0 does not properly restrict loading Dynamic Link Library

> An attacker can execute arbitrary code via DLL hijacking in the Sentinel Protection Installer due to improper access control.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 20 Dec 2021
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-qqf6-7934-8vv8

## What is CVE-2021-42809?

CVE-2021-42809 is a medium-severity code injection vulnerability in Thales Sentinel Protection Installer, published on 20 Dec 2021. 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

Improper Access Control of Dynamically-Managed Code Resources (DLL) in Thales Sentinel Protection Installer could allow the execution of arbitrary code.

Weakness: CWE-913 (Improper Control of Dynamically-Managed Code Resources)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-42809?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Thalesgroup Sentinel Protection Installer.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-42809?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-42809 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-42809 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-42809 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Thales Sentinel Protection Installer

- [CVE-2021-42808](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-42808/): Privilege escalation in Sentinel Protection Installer (medium 6.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-42809 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-42809 is a medium-severity code injection vulnerability in Thales Sentinel Protection Installer, published on 20 Dec 2021. 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-2021-42809 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Thales Sentinel Protection Installer. 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-2021-42809/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-42809/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-42809
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-42809
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-42809

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-42809/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.