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CWE-426 (不可信的搜索路径) — Vulnerability Class 229

229 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-2024-24810 WiX is vulnerable to DLL redirection attacks that allow the attacker to escalate privileges — issues 8.3 High 2024-02-07
CVE-2021-4435 Yarn: untrusted search path — yarn 7.7 High 2024-02-04
CVE-2024-22410 Binary Planting Attack on Windows Platforms in Creditcoin — creditcoin 3.3 Low 2024-01-17
CVE-2024-22190 Untrusted search path under some conditions on Windows allows arbitrary code execution — GitPython 7.8 High 2024-01-11
CVE-2024-21325 Microsoft Printer Metadata Troubleshooter Tool Remote Code Execution Vulnerability — Microsoft Printer Metadata Troubleshooter Tool 7.8 High 2024-01-09
CVE-2023-48670 Dell SupportAssist for Home PCs 安全漏洞 — SupportAssist Client Consumer 7.3 High 2023-12-22
CVE-2023-43586 Zoom VDI Client 安全漏洞 — Zoom Desktop Client for Windows, Zoom VDI Client for Windows and Zoom SDKs for Windows 7.3 High 2023-12-13
CVE-2023-36003 XAML Diagnostics Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability — Windows 10 Version 1809 6.7 Medium 2023-12-12
CVE-2023-26031 Privilege escalation in Apache Hadoop Yarn container-executor binary on Linux systems — Apache Hadoop 7.8 - 2023-11-16
CVE-2023-39202 Zoom Rooms和Zoom VDI Client 代码问题漏洞 — Zoom Rooms Client for Windows and Zoom VDI Client 3.1 Low 2023-11-14
CVE-2023-41840 Fortinet FortiClient 安全漏洞 — FortiClientWindows 7.4 High 2023-11-14
CVE-2023-36393 Windows User Interface Application Core Remote Code Execution Vulnerability — Windows 10 Version 1809 7.8 High 2023-11-14
CVE-2023-36422 Microsoft Windows Defender Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability — Windows Defender Antimalware Platform 7.8 High 2023-11-14
CVE-2021-26738 Privilege Escalation for ZCC macOS via PATH Variable — Client Connector 7.8 High 2023-10-23
CVE-2023-36780 Skype for Business Remote Code Execution Vulnerability — Skype for Business Server 2019 CU7 7.2 High 2023-10-10
CVE-2023-36778 Microsoft Exchange Server Remote Code Execution Vulnerability — Microsoft Exchange Server 2019 Cumulative Update 13 8.0 High 2023-10-10
CVE-2023-41766 Windows Client Server Run-time Subsystem (CSRSS) Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability — Windows 10 Version 1809 7.8 High 2023-10-10
CVE-2023-39201 Zoom Client 代码问题漏洞 — CleanZoom 7.2 High 2023-09-12
CVE-2023-4736 Untrusted Search Path in vim/vim — vim/vim 7.8 - 2023-09-02
CVE-2023-40590 Untrusted search path on Windows systems leading to arbitrary code execution — GitPython 7.8 High 2023-08-28
CVE-2023-29299 Adobe Acrobat Reader Untrusted Search Path Application denial-of-service — Acrobat Reader 4.7 Medium 2023-08-10
CVE-2023-36898 Tablet Windows User Interface Application Core Remote Code Execution Vulnerability — Windows 11 version 21H2 7.8 High 2023-08-08
CVE-2023-36540 Zoom Client 代码问题漏洞 — Zoom Desktop Client for Windows 7.3 High 2023-08-08
CVE-2023-36538 Zoom Rooms 安全漏洞 — Zoom Rooms for Windows 8.4 High 2023-07-11
CVE-2023-36536 Zoom Rooms 代码问题漏洞 — Zoom Rooms for Windows 8.2 High 2023-07-11
CVE-2023-34119 Zoom Rooms 安全漏洞 — Zoom Rooms for Windows 8.2 High 2023-07-11
CVE-2023-35343 Windows Geolocation Service Remote Code Execution Vulnerability — Windows 10 Version 1809 7.8 High 2023-07-11
CVE-2023-28143 Local Privilege Escalation — Cloud Agent 6.7 Medium 2023-04-18
CVE-2023-26358 Adobe Creative Cloud AdobeExtensionService.exe local privilege escalation vulnerability — Creative Cloud (desktop component) 8.6 High 2023-03-22
CVE-2023-26038 ZoneMinder contains Local File Inclusion vulnerability via `web/ajax/modal.php` — zoneminder 5.4 Medium 2023-02-25

Vulnerabilities classified as CWE-426 (不可信的搜索路径) represent 229 CVEs. The CWE taxonomy describes the weakness; review individual CVEs for product-specific impact.