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CWE-426 (不可信的搜索路径) — Vulnerability Class 249

249 vulnerabilities classified as CWE-426 (不可信的搜索路径). AI Chinese analysis included.

CWE-426 represents a critical input validation weakness where software relies on an externally-supplied search path to locate essential resources, such as executables or configuration files, rather than using absolute paths or trusted directories. Attackers typically exploit this vulnerability by manipulating the environment variable or system path to point to malicious code placed in a directory with higher precedence than the legitimate resource location. This allows them to execute arbitrary programs, access unauthorized data, or alter configurations unexpectedly, effectively achieving privilege escalation or remote code execution. To prevent this, developers must enforce strict path validation, utilize absolute paths for critical resources, and implement secure coding practices that restrict search directories to trusted, controlled locations. Additionally, applying the principle of least privilege ensures that even if an attacker manipulates the path, they cannot execute harmful code due to insufficient permissions.

MITRE CWE Description
The product searches for critical resources using an externally-supplied search path that can point to resources that are not under the product's direct control. This might allow attackers to execute their own programs, access unauthorized data files, or modify configuration in unexpected ways. If the product uses a search path to locate critical resources such as programs, then an attacker could modify that search path to point to a malicious program, which the targeted product would then execute. The problem extends to any type of critical resource that the product trusts. Some of the most common variants of untrusted search path are: In various UNIX and Linux-based systems, the PATH environment variable may be consulted to locate executable programs, and LD_PRELOAD may be used to locate a separate library. In various Microsoft-based systems, the PATH environment variable is consulted to locate a DLL, if the DLL is not found in other paths that appear earlier in the search order.
Common Consequences (3)
Integrity, Confidentiality, Availability, Access Control Gain Privileges or Assume Identity, Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands
There is the potential for arbitrary code execution with privileges of the vulnerable program.
Availability DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
The program could be redirected to the wrong files, potentially triggering a crash or hang when the targeted file is too large or does not have the expected format.
Confidentiality Read Files or Directories
The program could send the output of unauthorized files to the attacker.
Mitigations (5)
Architecture and Design, Implementation Hard-code the search path to a set of known-safe values (such as system directories), or only allow them to be specified by the administrator in a configuration file. Do not allow these settings to be modified by an external party. Be careful to avoid related weaknesses such as CWE-426 and CWE-428.
Implementation When invoking other programs, specify those programs using fully-qualified pathnames. While this is an effective approach, code that uses fully-qualified pathnames might not be portable to other systems that do not use the same pathnames. The portability can be improved by locating the full-qualified paths in a centralized, easily-modifiable location within the source code, and having the code ref…
Implementation Remove or restrict all environment settings before invoking other programs. This includes the PATH environment variable, LD_LIBRARY_PATH, and other settings that identify the location of code libraries, and any application-specific search paths.
Implementation Check your search path before use and remove any elements that are likely to be unsafe, such as the current working directory or a temporary files directory.
Implementation Use other functions that require explicit paths. Making use of any of the other readily available functions that require explicit paths is a safe way to avoid this problem. For example, system() in C does not require a full path since the shell can take care of it, while execl() and execv() require a full path.
Examples (2)
This program is intended to execute a command that lists the contents of a restricted directory, then performs other actions. Assume that it runs with setuid privileges in order to bypass the permissions check by the operating system.
#define DIR "/restricted/directory" char cmd[500]; sprintf(cmd, "ls -l %480s", DIR); /* Raise privileges to those needed for accessing DIR. */ RaisePrivileges(...); system(cmd); DropPrivileges(...); ...
Bad · C
The user sets the PATH to reference a directory under the attacker's control, such as "/my/dir/". The attacker creates a malicious program called "ls", and puts that program in /my/dir The user executes the program. When system() is executed, the shell consults the PATH to find the ls program The program finds the attacker's malicious program, "/my/dir/ls". It doesn't find "/bin/ls" because PATH does not contain "/bin/". The program executes the attacker's malicious program with the raised privileges.
Attack
The following code from a system utility uses the system property APPHOME to determine the directory in which it is installed and then executes an initialization script based on a relative path from the specified directory.
... String home = System.getProperty("APPHOME"); String cmd = home + INITCMD; java.lang.Runtime.getRuntime().exec(cmd); ...
Bad · Java
CVE ID Title CVSS Severity Published
CVE-2026-39883 OpenTelemetry-Go has an incomplete fix for CVE-2026-24051: BSD kenv command not using absolute path enables PATH hijacking — opentelemetry-go 7.3 High 2026-04-08
CVE-2025-39666 omd: Local privilege escalation when executing omd commands as root — Checkmk 7.8AI High AI 2026-04-07
CVE-2022-4987 Hirschmann Industrial HiVision External Application Path Hijacking Leading to Arbitrary Code Execution — Hirschmann Industrial HiVision 7.3 High 2026-04-03
CVE-2026-3780 Foxit PDF Editor/Reader Installer Uncontrolled Search Path Privilege Escalation — Foxit PDF Reader 7.3 High 2026-04-01
CVE-2026-33156 DLL Sideloading in ScreenToGif — ScreenToGif 7.8 High 2026-03-20
CVE-2026-25792 Greenshot Vulnerable to OS Command Injection via ExternalCommand Plugin — greenshot 6.5 Medium 2026-03-20
CVE-2026-32032 OpenClaw < 2026.2.22 - Arbitrary Shell Execution via Unvalidated SHELL Environment Variable — OpenClaw 7.8 High 2026-03-19
CVE-2026-32016 OpenClaw < 2026.2.22 - Path Traversal via Basename-Only Allowlist Matching on macOS — OpenClaw 7.8 High 2026-03-19
CVE-2026-32015 OpenClaw 2026.1.21 < 2026.2.19 - PATH Hijacking Bypass in tools.exec.safeBins Allowlist Validation — OpenClaw 7.8 High 2026-03-19
CVE-2026-32009 OpenClaw < 2026.2.24 - Binary Hijacking via Static Default Trusted Directories in safeBins — OpenClaw 5.7 Medium 2026-03-19
CVE-2026-21333 Illustrator | Untrusted Search Path (CWE-426) — Illustrator Desktop 2026 8.6 High 2026-03-10
CVE-2026-25190 Windows GDI Remote Code Execution Vulnerability — Windows 10 Version 1607 7.8 High 2026-03-10
CVE-2026-29089 TimescaleDB uses untrusted search path during extension upgrade — timescaledb 8.8 High 2026-03-06
CVE-2026-2998 eAI Technologies|ERP - DLL Hijacking — ERP F2 7.8 High 2026-02-23
CVE-2026-25926 Notepad++ has an Untrusted Search Path — notepad-plus-plus 7.3 High 2026-02-18
CVE-2026-25880 Untrusted Search Path in SumatraPDF Reader (explorer.exe on Windows) — sumatrapdf 7.8 High 2026-02-09
CVE-2025-15321 Tanium addressed an improper input validation vulnerability in Tanium Appliance. — Tanium Appliance 2.7 Low 2026-02-05
CVE-2025-13491 IBM App Connect Enterprise Certified Container Information Disclosure — App Connect Enterprise Certified Container 5.1 Medium 2026-02-05
CVE-2026-0662 Untrusted Search Path Vulnerability when opening max Files — 3ds Max 7.8 High 2026-02-04
CVE-2025-65078 Untrusted search path vulnerability in Embedded Solutions Framework — MXTCT, MSNGM, MSTGM, MXNGM, MXTGM, CSNGV, CSTGV, CXTGV, MSNGW, MSTGW, MXTGW, CSTLS, CXTLS, MXTLS, CSTMM, CXTMM, CSTPC, CXTPC, MXTPM, MSNSN, MSTSN, MXTSN, CSNZJ, CSTZJ, CXNZJ, CXTZJ 8.8AI High AI 2026-02-03
CVE-2026-24051 OpenTelemetry-Go Affected by Arbitrary Code Execution via PATH Hijacking — opentelemetry-go 7.0 High 2026-02-02
CVE-2026-24070 Local Privilege Escalation via DYLIB Injection in Native Instruments Native Access — Native Access 5.5AI Medium AI 2026-02-02
CVE-2026-23512 SumatraPDF has an Untrusted Search Path in sumatrapdf/src/AppTools.cpp — sumatrapdf 8.6 High 2026-01-14
CVE-2026-21280 Illustrator | Untrusted Search Path (CWE-426) — Illustrator Desktop 2026 8.6 High 2026-01-13
CVE-2026-20943 Microsoft Office Click-To-Run Remote Code Execution Vulnerability — Microsoft Office 2016 7.0 High 2026-01-13
CVE-2025-12793 ASUS System Control Interface 安全漏洞 — ASCI 7.3 - 2026-01-06
CVE-2019-25257 LogicalDOC Enterprise 7.7.4 Authenticated Command Execution via Binary Path Manipulation — LogicalDOC Enterprise 6.5 Medium 2025-12-24
CVE-2025-67722 Authenticated amportal search for ‘freepbx_engine’ in non root writeable directories leads to potential privilege escalation — framework 7.8AI High AI 2025-12-16
CVE-2025-64785 Acrobat Reader | Untrusted Search Path (CWE-426) — Acrobat Reader 7.8 High 2025-12-09
CVE-2025-12819 Untrusted search path in auth_query connection in PgBouncer — PgBouncer 7.5 High 2025-12-03

Vulnerabilities classified as CWE-426 (不可信的搜索路径) represent 249 CVEs. The CWE taxonomy describes the weakness; review individual CVEs for product-specific impact.