CVE-2024-35288Public exploit

SYSTEM privilege escalation via MSI repair actions

Published Oct 9, 2024 · Updated Mar 25, 2025

Local privilege escalation in Nitro PDF Pro before 13.70.8.82 and 14.x before 14.26.1.0 allows local users to gain SYSTEM access. The cached MSI permits an unprivileged repair launch under SYSTEM, then exposes CertUtil in conhost.exe so CTRL+O can open a SYSTEM command prompt. Exploitation requires low-privileged Windows access and a newly spawned Chrome or Firefox process rather than Edge or Internet Explorer.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability0.26%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Local privilege escalation in Nitro PDF Pro before 13.70.8.82 and 14.x before 14.26.1.0 allows local users to gain SYSTEM access. The cached MSI permits an unprivileged repair launch under SYSTEM, then exposes CertUtil in conhost.exe so CTRL+O can open a SYSTEM command prompt. Exploitation requires low-privileged Windows access and a newly spawned Chrome or Firefox process rather than Edge or Internet Explorer.

The record

CVE
CVE-2024-35288
Published
Oct 9, 2024
Updated
Mar 25, 2025
Vendor
Nitro
Product
Nitro PDF Pro
Classifications
T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Oct 9, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Mar 25, 2025Record 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.

  1. Affected versionversion=0 <13.70.8.82
  2. Affected versionversion=14.0 <14.26.1.0

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Nitro · Nitro PDF Proversion=0 <13.70.8.82; version=14.0 <14.26.1.0

Published CVSS scores

7.8CISA ADPCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/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
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

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

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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