# CVE-2026-14208: Local Privilege Escalation via Insecure DLL Permissions in Remote Utilities Host <=7.7.3.0

> Local attackers can escalate privileges to SYSTEM by replacing DLLs in the installation directory during service restarts due to insecure file permissions.

- **Severity:** High 7.3 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N`)
- **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:** 21 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 21 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-2v74-j8j5-fw75

## What is CVE-2026-14208?

CVE-2026-14208 is a high-severity vulnerability in Remote Utilities Host, published on 21 Aug 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Remote Utilities Host <=7.7.3.0 sets insecure ACLs on all DLL files in the installation directory (C:\Program Files (x86)\Remote Utilities - Host\), granting FULL CONTROL (F) to the built-in Everyone group (BUILTIN\Everyone, S-1-1-0). A Windows service running as NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM loads DLLs from this directory. The DLLs are file-locked at runtime, but a race window exists when the service is stopped (e.g. during a software update or following a crash), during which a local unprivileged attacker can replace a DLL with a malicious payload. Upon service restart, the payload executes as NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM. The DLL confirmed as actively loaded during testing is libasset32.dll. Additional DLLs in the same directory (eventmsg.dll, libcodec32.dll, vp8encoder.dll, vp8decoder.dll, webmvorbisdecoder.dll, webmvorbisencoder.dll, webmmux.dll) share identical insecure permissions.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-14208?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-14208?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-14208 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-14208 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-14208 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-14208 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-14208 is a high-severity vulnerability in Remote Utilities Host, published on 21 Aug 2026. 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-2026-14208 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Remote Utilities Host. 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-2026-14208/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-14208/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-14208
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-14208
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-14208

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-14208/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.