CVE-2010-5240
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 · uneditedMultiple untrusted search path vulnerabilities in Corel PHOTO-PAINT and CorelDRAW X5 15.1.0.588 allow local users to gain privileges via a Trojan horse (1) dwmapi.dll or (2) CrlRib.dll file in the current working directory, as demonstrated by a directory that contains a .cdr, .cpt, .cmx, or .csl file. NOTE: some of these details are obtained 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 · high confidenceCorel PHOTO-PAINT and CorelDRAW X5 contain untrusted search path vulnerabilities where the applications load DLL files (dwmapi.dll or CrlRib.dll) from the current working directory without validation. When a user opens a supported file type (.cdr, .cpt, .cmx, .csl) from a directory containing a malicious DLL, the application executes the Trojan horse code with the user's privileges, enabling local privilege escalation.
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= 15.1.0.588= 13.0.0.576CVSS 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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Identify installed Corel applicationsCheck program files for CorelDRAW X5 or Corel Photo-Paint X3 installations. Look in C:\Program Files\Corel\CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5 or C:\Program Files\Corel\Corel PHOTO-PAINT X3Affected if Either CorelDRAW X5 version 15.1.0.588 or Corel Photo-Paint X3 version 13.0.0.576 is installed
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Verify exact version numberOpen the application, go to Help > About or check the version via the installer/registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Corel\ApplicationsAffected if Installed version matches exactly 15.1.0.588 for CorelDRAW X5 or 13.0.0.576 for Photo-Paint X3
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Check for vulnerable DLL files in application directorySearch for dwmapi.dll or CrlRib.dll in the Corel application bin folders (typically C:\Program Files\Corel\CorelDRAW Graphics Suite X5\Programs)Affected if dwmapi.dll or CrlRib.dll exists in the application directory without proper digital signature validation
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Examine working directory behaviorOpen a .cdr, .cpt, .cmx, or .csl file from a test directory containing a test DLL and monitor which DLL the application loads using Process Monitor (procmon.exe) from SysinternalsAffected if Application loads a DLL from the current working directory rather than only from the system PATH or application directory
A user is affected if they have CorelDRAW X5 version 15.1.0.588 or Corel Photo-Paint X3 version 13.0.0.576 installed and routinely open supported file types from directories that could contain malicious DLLs.
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 dataUpgrade to a patched version of CorelDRAW/PHOTO-PAINT that addresses DLL hijacking, or ensure the application is always run from trusted directories and users avoid opening files from untrusted or shared network locations containing potentially malicious DLLs.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2010-5240 — 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-2010-5240 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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