CVE-2006-0255
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedUnquoted Windows search path vulnerability in Check Point VPN-1 SecureClient might allow local users to gain privileges via a malicious "program.exe" file in the C: folder, which is run when SecureClient attempts to launch the Sr_GUI.exe program.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceUnquoted Windows search path vulnerability in Check Point VPN-1 SecureClient allows local privilege escalation. When SecureClient attempts to launch Sr_GUI.exe, Windows searches for the executable in an unquoted path and finds a malicious program.exe placed in the C:\ root directory, executing it with elevated privileges.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE dataall versions= 4.1CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check if Check Point VPN-1 SecureClient is installedOpen Control Panel > Programs and Features, or run 'reg query HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall /s | findstr -i "Check Point"' to query installed programsAffected if VPN-1 SecureClient appears in installed programs list
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Identify the installed VPN-1 SecureClient versionRun 'reg query "HKLM\Software\Check Point\VPN-1 SecureClient" /v Version' or check the version in Programs and FeaturesAffected if Version matches 'all versions' or specifically 4.1 (any version is affected)
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Locate the Sr_GUI.exe executableSearch for Sr_GUI.exe in the Check Point installation directory, commonly found in C:\Program Files\CheckPoint\SECURECLIENT\ or C:\Program Files\Check Point\VPN-1\Affected if Sr_GUI.exe exists in the installation path
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Verify if SecureClient service is configured to runOpen Services (services.msc) and look for 'Check Point VPN-1 SecureClient' service, or run 'sc query "Check Point VPN-1 SecureClient"'Affected if Service exists and is set to Automatic or Manual start (the vulnerability requires the application to be configured to launch)
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Check if the installation path contains spaces and is unquotedExamine the registry value for the service executable path under HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\ and check if the path to Sr_GUI.exe is wrapped in quotesAffected if The executable path in the service configuration lacks quotation marks around paths containing spaces
The system is affected if Check Point VPN-1 SecureClient of any version is installed with Sr_GUI.exe present and the service/application is configured to run, as this creates the unquoted path condition that allows privilege escalation.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataApply vendor patches for this vulnerability. As a compensating control, restrict write permissions on the C:\ drive to prevent untrusted users from placing malicious executables there.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2006-0255 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2006-0255 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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