Code execution via current-directory DLL loading
Published Mar 16, 2023 · Updated Feb 26, 2025
DLL search-order hijacking in UwAmp 1.1 through 3.0.2 allows local users to execute arbitrary code when a user launches UwAmp.exe. The executable searches its current directory for missing shfolder.dll and loads an attacker-supplied file from that location without constraining the search path. Exploitation requires placing the DLL beside UwAmp.exe and inducing a user to launch it; the DLL then runs with the application's privileges.
Summary
What happened
DLL search-order hijacking in UwAmp 1.1 through 3.0.2 allows local users to execute arbitrary code when a user launches UwAmp.exe. The executable searches its current directory for missing shfolder.dll and loads an attacker-supplied file from that location without constraining the search path. Exploitation requires placing the DLL beside UwAmp.exe and inducing a user to launch it; the DLL then runs with the application's privileges.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2021-31637
- Published
- Mar 16, 2023
- Updated
- Feb 26, 2025
- Vendor
- Unknown vendor
- Product
- Unknown product
- Classifications
- CWE-427, T1574.001
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Mar 16, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Feb 26, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.
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
- UwAmp Arbitrary Code Execution proof of conceptproof of concept · demonstrated
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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