Local privilege escalation via cfgmgr32.dll side-loading
Published Feb 18, 2025 · Updated Feb 19, 2025
DLL hijacking in Akeo Consulting Rufus 4.6.2208 and earlier allows local users to execute code with elevated privileges. MinGW builds implicitly load cfgmgr32.dll using Windows' default DLL search order, allowing an attacker-controlled copy beside the executable to replace the system library. Exploitation requires user-level access to write the DLL beside Rufus and a privileged launch; the payload then runs with the elevated process's rights.
Summary
What happened
DLL hijacking in Akeo Consulting Rufus 4.6.2208 and earlier allows local users to execute code with elevated privileges. MinGW builds implicitly load cfgmgr32.dll using Windows' default DLL search order, allowing an attacker-controlled copy beside the executable to replace the system library. Exploitation requires user-level access to write the DLL beside Rufus and a privileged launch; the payload then runs with the elevated process's rights.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-26624
- Published
- Feb 18, 2025
- Updated
- Feb 19, 2025
- Vendor
- Akeo Consulting
- Product
- Rufus
- Classifications
- CWE-427, CWE-426, T1574.001
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Feb 18, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Feb 19, 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.
- Affected versionversion=< 4.7
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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