CVE-2009-5118
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 · uneditedUntrusted search path vulnerability in McAfee VirusScan Enterprise before 8.7i allows local users to gain privileges via a Trojan horse DLL in an unspecified directory, as demonstrated by scanning a document located on a remote share.
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 · moderate confidenceMcAfee VirusScan Enterprise before version 8.7i contains an untrusted search path (DLL hijacking) vulnerability. When scanning documents on remote shares, the application loads DLLs from directories that local users can control, allowing privilege escalation via a malicious DLL.
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 data<= 8.5i= 8.0iCVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- M
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:M/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 installed VirusScan Enterprise versionOpen the VirusScan console, go to Help > About, or check Add/Remove Programs for the version numberAffected if Version is 8.5i or lower, or exactly 8.0i
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Confirm version is vulnerableCompare your installed version against the affected range: any version before 8.7i (including 8.5i, 8.0i, and earlier releases) is affectedAffected if Version is earlier than 8.7i
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Determine if remote share scanning is enabledCheck the VirusScan on-access or scheduled scan settings for any configured paths that point to remote/network shares (UNC paths or mapped drives)Affected if Scanning of remote shares is configured or commonly performed
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Identify user access to scanned directoriesReview whether standard users can write to directories that VirusScan scans on remote sharesAffected if Users can place files in directories that VirusScan scans on network shares
You are affected if VirusScan Enterprise version is before 8.7i and scanning of remote shares where local users can write is enabled or commonly performed
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.
dbcve · scopedUpgrade McAfee VirusScan Enterprise to version 8.7i or later to remediate the DLL hijacking vulnerability.
McAfee VirusScan Enterprise 8.7i or later
- 1. Verify the current installed version of McAfee VirusScan Enterprise by opening the VirusScan console or checking Add/Remove Programs
- 2. Download McAfee VirusScan Enterprise 8.7i or later from the official McAfee download portal or your enterprise license site
- 3. Ensure you have administrator privileges on the local machine
- 4. Close all applications and disable real-time scanning temporarily if required for the installation
- 5. Run the VirusScan Enterprise installer with elevated (administrator) privileges
- 6. Follow the installation wizard prompts to complete the upgrade
- 7. After installation, verify the new version is 8.7i or higher
- 8. Re-enable real-time scanning if it was disabled
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2009-5118 — 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-2009-5118 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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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data