CVE-2010-5212
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 Adobe LiveCycle Designer ES2 9.0.0.20091029.1.612548 allows local users to gain privileges via a Trojan horse objectassisten_US.dll file in the current working directory, as demonstrated by a directory that contains a .tds file. NOTE: the provenance of this information is unknown; the details are obtained solely from third party information.
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 confidenceUntrusted search path/DLL hijacking vulnerability in Adobe LiveCycle Designer ES2 allows local privilege escalation. The application loads objectassisten_US.dll from the current working directory when processing .tds files without validating the DLL path, enabling an attacker to place a malicious DLL in a directory containing a .tds file that gets executed with the application's 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 data= 9.0.0.20091029.1.612548CVSS 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
- M
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:L/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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Verify Adobe LiveCycle Designer ES2 is installedCheck the Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\LiveCycle Designer ES2 or look in Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe LiveCycle Designer ES2 for the executableAffected if The application is not installed or the path does not exist, then not affected
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Confirm the installed version matches the vulnerable releaseRight-click on the LiveCycle Designer executable (designer.exe), select Properties, and check the File Version field; or query the registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\Adobe\LiveCycle Designer ES2\InstallPath for the path, then check version thereAffected if Version equals 9.0.0.20091029.1.612548 exactly, then likely affected; if version differs, likely not affected
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Check .tds file type associationOpen Command Prompt and run 'assoc .tds' to see if .tds files are associated with LiveCycle Designer, or check HKCR\.tds in the registryAffected if If .tds files are associated with LiveCycle Designer ES2, the DLL hijacking vector exists when opening files from user-writable directories
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Identify if user-writable directories contain .tds filesSearch user directories (Documents, Downloads, Desktop) for .tds files using 'dir /s /b *.tds %USERPROFILE%'Affected if If .tds files exist in directories where untrusted users could place a malicious objectassisten_US.dll, the environment is at risk
The environment is affected only if Adobe LiveCycle Designer ES2 version 9.0.0.20091029.1.612548 is installed AND .tds files can be opened from directories where an attacker could place a malicious DLL.
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 dataUsers should avoid opening .tds files from untrusted or shared directories. Ensure the application runs with least privilege and that user-writable directories are not used for storing or opening .tds files. Consider application whitelisting to prevent unsigned DLL loading.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2010-5212 — 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-2010-5212 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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- 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
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