CVE-2011-5152
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 ACDSee Photo Editor 2008 5.x build 291 allow local users to gain privileges via a Trojan horse (1) Wintab32.dll or (2) CV11-DialogEditor.dll file in the current working directory, as demonstrated by a directory that contains a .apd 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 confidenceACDSee Photo Editor 2008 5.x build 291 is vulnerable to untrusted search path (DLL hijacking). The application loads Wintab32.dll and CV11-DialogEditor.dll from the current working directory without validating the DLL path, allowing a local attacker to place a malicious DLL in a directory containing a .apd file to achieve privilege escalation when a user opens the file with the vulnerable application.
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= 5.0CVSS 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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Check if ACDSee Photo Editor 2008 is installedOpen Windows Control Panel, go to Programs and Features (or Add/Remove Programs), and look for 'ACDSee Photo Editor 2008' in the installed programs list. Note the version listed.Affected if ACDSee Photo Editor 2008 version 5.0 is installed
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Verify the exact version numberRight-click on the ACDSee Photo Editor 2008 entry in Programs and Features, select Properties, and check the Version field. Alternatively, navigate to the installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\ACD Systems\ACDSee Photo Editor 2008\), right-click the application executable, select Properties, and check the File version.Affected if The version shows exactly 5.0 (or build 291)
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Check for .apd file associationLocate any .apd file on the system. Right-click the file, select Properties, then go to the 'Opens with' section to see if ACDSee Photo Editor 2008 is associated with this file type. You can also check via Registry: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.apdAffected if The .apd file type is associated with ACDSee Photo Editor 2008, making the DLL hijacking attack vector viable when opening files from a directory containing a malicious DLL
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Inspect DLL loading behaviorOpen ACDSee Photo Editor 2008 while monitoring DLL loads using Process Monitor (from Sysinternals). Set a filter to capture Process Name contains 'ACDSeePhotoEditor' and Path contains 'Wintab32.dll' or 'CV11-DialogEditor.dll'. Open an .apd file and observe where the DLLs are loaded from.Affected if The application loads Wintab32.dll or CV11-DialogEditor.dll from the current working directory (the directory containing the .apd file) rather than from the application directory or system DLL cache
You are affected if ACDSee Photo Editor 2008 version 5.0 is installed and .apd files are associated with it, as the application will load the vulnerable DLLs from the current working directory when opening .apd files.
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 dataAvoid opening .apd files from untrusted or shared network directories. If possible, upgrade to a patched version of ACDSee. Apply vendor security updates if available.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2011-5152 — 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-2011-5152 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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