CWE-427
Allowed-with-ReviewUncontrolled Search Path Element
Abstraction: Base · Status: Draft
The product uses a fixed or controlled search path to find resources, but one or more locations in that path can be under the control of unintended actors.
1895 vulnerabilities reference this CWE, most recent first.
GHSA-GW7J-RV4V-WRCJ
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2024-04-10 15:30 – Updated: 2024-04-10 15:30Dell Alienware Command Center, versions prior to 6.2.7.0, contain an uncontrolled search path element vulnerability. A local malicious user could potentially inject malicious files in the file search path, leading to system compromise.
{
"affected": [],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2024-22450"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-427"
],
"github_reviewed": false,
"github_reviewed_at": null,
"nvd_published_at": "2024-04-10T07:15:08Z",
"severity": "HIGH"
},
"details": "Dell Alienware Command Center, versions prior to 6.2.7.0, contain an uncontrolled search path element vulnerability. A local malicious user could potentially inject malicious files in the file search path, leading to system compromise.",
"id": "GHSA-gw7j-rv4v-wrcj",
"modified": "2024-04-10T15:30:39Z",
"published": "2024-04-10T15:30:39Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-22450"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000218222/dsa-2024-016-security-update-for-dell-alienware-command-center-vulnerabilities"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
}
]
}
GHSA-GWJM-PF8W-MC26
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2022-08-19 00:00 – Updated: 2022-08-23 00:00Uncontrolled search path element in the Intel(R) Enpirion(R) Digital Power Configurator GUI software, all versions may allow an authenticated user to potentially enable escalation of privilege via local access.
{
"affected": [],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2022-25999"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-427"
],
"github_reviewed": false,
"github_reviewed_at": null,
"nvd_published_at": "2022-08-18T20:15:00Z",
"severity": "HIGH"
},
"details": "Uncontrolled search path element in the Intel(R) Enpirion(R) Digital Power Configurator GUI software, all versions may allow an authenticated user to potentially enable escalation of privilege via local access.",
"id": "GHSA-gwjm-pf8w-mc26",
"modified": "2022-08-23T00:00:18Z",
"published": "2022-08-19T00:00:18Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-25999"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/security-center/advisory/intel-sa-00672.html"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
}
]
}
GHSA-GWW4-6RRF-6F3G
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-03-09 06:31 – Updated: 2026-03-09 06:31The installer for Qsee Client versions 1.0.1 and prior insecurely load Dynamic Link Libraries (DLLs). When a user is directed to place some malicious DLL to the same directory and execute the affected installer, then arbitrary code may be executed with the administrative privilege.
{
"affected": [],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2026-30896"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-427"
],
"github_reviewed": false,
"github_reviewed_at": null,
"nvd_published_at": "2026-03-09T06:16:08Z",
"severity": "HIGH"
},
"details": "The installer for Qsee Client versions 1.0.1 and prior insecurely load Dynamic Link Libraries (DLLs). When a user is directed to place some malicious DLL to the same directory and execute the affected installer, then arbitrary code may be executed with the administrative privilege.",
"id": "GHSA-gww4-6rrf-6f3g",
"modified": "2026-03-09T06:31:14Z",
"published": "2026-03-09T06:31:14Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-30896"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://jvn.jp/en/jp/JVN11676807"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://www.q-see.com/pages/download"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
},
{
"score": "CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X",
"type": "CVSS_V4"
}
]
}
GHSA-GWWG-HF4R-C6QR
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2022-05-13 01:38 – Updated: 2022-05-13 01:38Multiple untrusted search path vulnerabilities in installer in Synology Photo Station Uploader before 1.4.2-084 on Windows allows local attackers to execute arbitrary code and conduct DLL hijacking attack via a Trojan horse (1) shfolder.dll, (2) ntmarta.dll, (3) secur32.dll or (4) dwmapi.dll file in the current working directory.
{
"affected": [],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2017-11159"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-426",
"CWE-427"
],
"github_reviewed": false,
"github_reviewed_at": null,
"nvd_published_at": "2017-08-23T15:29:00Z",
"severity": "HIGH"
},
"details": "Multiple untrusted search path vulnerabilities in installer in Synology Photo Station Uploader before 1.4.2-084 on Windows allows local attackers to execute arbitrary code and conduct DLL hijacking attack via a Trojan horse (1) shfolder.dll, (2) ntmarta.dll, (3) secur32.dll or (4) dwmapi.dll file in the current working directory.",
"id": "GHSA-gwwg-hf4r-c6qr",
"modified": "2022-05-13T01:38:17Z",
"published": "2022-05-13T01:38:17Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-11159"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://www.synology.com/en-global/support/security/Synology_SA_17_45_Photo_Station_Uploader"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
}
]
}
GHSA-GWXV-MHQ9-MFM8
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2022-05-24 17:45 – Updated: 2022-05-24 17:45Calling an executable through an Uncontrolled Search Path Element in the Bosch Video Streaming Gateway installer up to and including version 6.45.10 potentially allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code on a victim's system. A prerequisite is that the victim is tricked into placing a malicious exe in the same directory where the installer is started from.
{
"affected": [],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2020-6790"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-427"
],
"github_reviewed": false,
"github_reviewed_at": null,
"nvd_published_at": "2021-03-25T16:15:00Z",
"severity": "HIGH"
},
"details": "Calling an executable through an Uncontrolled Search Path Element in the Bosch Video Streaming Gateway installer up to and including version 6.45.10 potentially allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code on a victim\u0027s system. A prerequisite is that the victim is tricked into placing a malicious exe in the same directory where the installer is started from.",
"id": "GHSA-gwxv-mhq9-mfm8",
"modified": "2022-05-24T17:45:21Z",
"published": "2022-05-24T17:45:21Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-6790"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://psirt.bosch.com/security-advisories/bosch-sa-835563-bt.html"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": []
}
GHSA-GX85-4C58-7CG4
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-10-19 21:36 – Updated: 2026-10-19 21:36Dell Application Store, versions prior to 26.05.0.7, contains an Uncontrolled Path Element vulnerability. A low privileged attacker with local access could potentially exploit this vulnerability, leading to an Elevation of Privilege and arbitrary code execution.
{
"affected": [],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2026-71170"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-427"
],
"github_reviewed": false,
"github_reviewed_at": null,
"nvd_published_at": "2026-10-19T20:20:03Z",
"severity": "HIGH"
},
"details": "Dell Application Store, versions prior to 26.05.0.7, contains an Uncontrolled Path Element vulnerability. A low privileged attacker with local access could potentially exploit this vulnerability, leading to an Elevation of Privilege and arbitrary code execution.",
"id": "GHSA-gx85-4c58-7cg4",
"modified": "2026-10-19T21:36:30Z",
"published": "2026-10-19T21:36:30Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-71170"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000506927/dsa-2026-411-security-update-for-dell-application-store-for-multiple-vulnerabilities"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
}
]
}
GHSA-GX9P-X3QQ-2JFR
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2022-04-23 00:02 – Updated: 2022-05-05 00:00A DLL search path vulnerability was reported in Lenovo PCManager prior to version 4.0.40.2175 that could allow privilege escalation.
{
"affected": [],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2022-0192"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-427"
],
"github_reviewed": false,
"github_reviewed_at": null,
"nvd_published_at": "2022-04-22T21:15:00Z",
"severity": "HIGH"
},
"details": "A DLL search path vulnerability was reported in Lenovo PCManager prior to version 4.0.40.2175 that could allow privilege escalation.",
"id": "GHSA-gx9p-x3qq-2jfr",
"modified": "2022-05-05T00:00:42Z",
"published": "2022-04-23T00:02:59Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-0192"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://iknow.lenovo.com.cn/detail/dc_201470.html"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
}
]
}
GHSA-GXP5-VJ8W-VJMW
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2022-05-24 17:37 – Updated: 2023-04-26 21:30An issue was discovered on D-Link DSL-2888A devices with firmware prior to AU_2.31_V1.1.47ae55. It has a misconfigured FTP service that allows a malicious network user to access system folders and download sensitive files (such as the password hash file).
{
"affected": [],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2020-24578"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-427",
"CWE-732"
],
"github_reviewed": false,
"github_reviewed_at": null,
"nvd_published_at": "2020-12-22T19:15:00Z",
"severity": "MODERATE"
},
"details": "An issue was discovered on D-Link DSL-2888A devices with firmware prior to AU_2.31_V1.1.47ae55. It has a misconfigured FTP service that allows a malicious network user to access system folders and download sensitive files (such as the password hash file).",
"id": "GHSA-gxp5-vj8w-vjmw",
"modified": "2023-04-26T21:30:36Z",
"published": "2022-05-24T17:37:01Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-24578"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://www.trustwave.com/en-us/resources/blogs/spiderlabs-blog/d-link-multiple-security-vulnerabilities-leading-to-rce"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://www.trustwave.com/en-us/resources/security-resources/security-advisories"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
}
]
}
GHSA-GXVR-R6V5-M3XW
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-09-22 12:30 – Updated: 2026-09-22 12:30Privilege escalation due to weak configuration during package extraction process.
{
"affected": [],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2026-25264"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-427"
],
"github_reviewed": false,
"github_reviewed_at": null,
"nvd_published_at": "2026-09-22T10:17:09Z",
"severity": "HIGH"
},
"details": "Privilege escalation due to weak configuration during package extraction process.",
"id": "GHSA-gxvr-r6v5-m3xw",
"modified": "2026-09-22T12:30:25Z",
"published": "2026-09-22T12:30:25Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-25264"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://docs.qualcomm.com/product/publicresources/securitybulletin/june-2026-bulletin.html"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
}
]
}
GHSA-H262-6RWR-PHF2
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-02-10 18:30 – Updated: 2026-02-10 18:30Uncontrolled search path in some software installer for some VTune(TM) Profiler software and Intel(R) oneAPI Base Toolkits before version 2025.0. within Ring 3: User Applications may allow an escalation of privilege. System software adversary with an authenticated user combined with a high complexity attack may enable escalation of privilege. This result may potentially occur via local access when attack requirements are present without special internal knowledge and requires active user interaction. The potential vulnerability may impact the confidentiality (high), integrity (high) and availability (high) of the vulnerable system, resulting in subsequent system confidentiality (none), integrity (none) and availability (none) impacts.
{
"affected": [],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2025-20106"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-427"
],
"github_reviewed": false,
"github_reviewed_at": null,
"nvd_published_at": "2026-02-10T17:16:12Z",
"severity": "MODERATE"
},
"details": "Uncontrolled search path in some software installer for some VTune(TM) Profiler software and Intel(R) oneAPI Base Toolkits before version 2025.0. within Ring 3: User Applications may allow an escalation of privilege. System software adversary with an authenticated user combined with a high complexity attack may enable escalation of privilege. This result may potentially occur via local access when attack requirements are present without special internal knowledge and requires active user interaction. The potential vulnerability may impact the confidentiality (high), integrity (high) and availability (high) of the vulnerable system, resulting in subsequent system confidentiality (none), integrity (none) and availability (none) impacts.",
"id": "GHSA-h262-6rwr-phf2",
"modified": "2026-02-10T18:30:39Z",
"published": "2026-02-10T18:30:39Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-20106"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://intel.com/content/www/us/en/security-center/advisory/intel-sa-01265.html"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
},
{
"score": "CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X",
"type": "CVSS_V4"
}
]
}
Mitigation
Strategy: Attack Surface Reduction
Hard-code the search path to a set of known-safe values (such as system directories), or only allow them to be specified by the administrator in a configuration file. Do not allow these settings to be modified by an external party. Be careful to avoid related weaknesses such as CWE-426 and CWE-428.
Mitigation
Strategy: Attack Surface Reduction
When invoking other programs, specify those programs using fully-qualified pathnames. While this is an effective approach, code that uses fully-qualified pathnames might not be portable to other systems that do not use the same pathnames. The portability can be improved by locating the full-qualified paths in a centralized, easily-modifiable location within the source code, and having the code refer to these paths.
Mitigation
Strategy: Attack Surface Reduction
Remove or restrict all environment settings before invoking other programs. This includes the PATH environment variable, LD_LIBRARY_PATH, and other settings that identify the location of code libraries, and any application-specific search paths.
Mitigation
Check your search path before use and remove any elements that are likely to be unsafe, such as the current working directory or a temporary files directory. Since this is a denylist approach, it might not be a complete solution.
Mitigation
Use other functions that require explicit paths. Making use of any of the other readily available functions that require explicit paths is a safe way to avoid this problem. For example, system() in C does not require a full path since the shell can take care of finding the program using the PATH environment variable, while execl() and execv() require a full path.
CAPEC-38: Leveraging/Manipulating Configuration File Search Paths
This pattern of attack sees an adversary load a malicious resource into a program's standard path so that when a known command is executed then the system instead executes the malicious component. The adversary can either modify the search path a program uses, like a PATH variable or classpath, or they can manipulate resources on the path to point to their malicious components. J2EE applications and other component based applications that are built from multiple binaries can have very long list of dependencies to execute. If one of these libraries and/or references is controllable by the attacker then application controls can be circumvented by the attacker.
CAPEC-471: Search Order Hijacking
An adversary exploits a weakness in an application's specification of external libraries to exploit the functionality of the loader where the process loading the library searches first in the same directory in which the process binary resides and then in other directories. Exploitation of this preferential search order can allow an attacker to make the loading process load the adversary's rogue library rather than the legitimate library. This attack can be leveraged with many different libraries and with many different loading processes. No forensic trails are left in the system's registry or file system that an incorrect library had been loaded.