Administrator code execution via fixed-path binary replacement
Published Oct 29, 2021 · Updated Aug 3, 2024
Local privilege escalation in VMware InstallBuilder before 21.6.0 allows local users to execute code through a Windows uninstaller race. The uninstaller copies itself to a fixed, access-unrestricted temporary path and then executes that path, allowing its copied binary to be replaced before launch. Exploitation requires prior access to monitor the temporary directory and an uninstaller launched with Administrator privileges; resulting code runs in that privileged security context.
Summary
What happened
Local privilege escalation in VMware InstallBuilder before 21.6.0 allows local users to execute code through a Windows uninstaller race. The uninstaller copies itself to a fixed, access-unrestricted temporary path and then executes that path, allowing its copied binary to be replaced before launch. Exploitation requires prior access to monitor the temporary directory and an uninstaller launched with Administrator privileges; resulting code runs in that privileged security context.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2021-22038
- Published
- Oct 29, 2021
- Updated
- Aug 3, 2024
- Vendor
- VMware
- Product
- InstallBuilder
- Classifications
- CWE-330, T1574.005
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Oct 29, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 3, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=All InstallBuilder versions prior to version 21.6.0
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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