CVE-2025-38738

Local privilege escalation during installation

Published Aug 14, 2025 · Updated Feb 26, 2026

Incorrect privilege assignment in Dell SupportAssist for Home PCs Installer 4.8.2.29006 and earlier allows local users to elevate privileges. Dell identifies SupportAssistInstaller.exe as the affected locus but has not published which installer operation assigns excessive privileges. Exploitation requires low-privileged local access, high attack complexity, and user interaction, and exposure exists only while installation is in progress.

CVSS severity6.7
Medium
EPSS probability0.11%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Incorrect privilege assignment in Dell SupportAssist for Home PCs Installer 4.8.2.29006 and earlier allows local users to elevate privileges. Dell identifies SupportAssistInstaller.exe as the affected locus but has not published which installer operation assigns excessive privileges. Exploitation requires low-privileged local access, high attack complexity, and user interaction, and exposure exists only while installation is in progress.

The record

CVE
CVE-2025-38738
Published
Aug 14, 2025
Updated
Feb 26, 2026
Vendor
Dell
Product
SupportAssist for Home PCs
Classifications
CWE-266, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Aug 14, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Feb 26, 2026Record 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=N/A <4.8.2.38851

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Dell · SupportAssist for Home PCsversion=N/A <4.8.2.38851

Published CVSS scores

6.7DellCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/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
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-266Incorrect Privilege Assignment
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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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