CVE-2021-22000Public exploit

Administrator escalation via rooted-relative DLL loading

Published Jul 13, 2021 · Updated Aug 3, 2024

DLL hijacking in VMware ThinApp 5.x before 5.2.10 allows local users to gain Administrator privileges on Windows. Setup Capture.exe, log_monitor.exe, and snapshot.exe pass the rooted-relative \DummyTLS\dummyTLS.dll path to LoadLibraryExW, causing Windows to resolve it from the current drive root. A non-administrative user who places the named DLL there and induces one of these tools to run gains code execution at the tool's elevated privilege level.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability0.56%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

Summary

What happened

DLL hijacking in VMware ThinApp 5.x before 5.2.10 allows local users to gain Administrator privileges on Windows. Setup Capture.exe, log_monitor.exe, and snapshot.exe pass the rooted-relative \DummyTLS\dummyTLS.dll path to LoadLibraryExW, causing Windows to resolve it from the current drive root. A non-administrative user who places the named DLL there and induces one of these tools to run gains code execution at the tool's elevated privilege level.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-22000
Published
Jul 13, 2021
Updated
Aug 3, 2024
Vendor
VMware
Product
ThinApp
Classifications
CWE-427, T1574.001
Attack vector
local
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jul 13, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 3, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=VMware Thinapp 5.x prior to 5.2.10

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

VMware · ThinAppversion=VMware Thinapp 5.x prior to 5.2.10

Published CVSS scores

6.9NIST NVDAV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
7.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-427Uncontrolled Search Path Element
T1574.001Hijack Execution Flow: DLL Search Order Hijacking

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

See the directory against your own environment.

Your stack

Check the software in your environment

Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.

Book a demo