CVE-2013-2604
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 · uneditedRealNetworks GameHouse RealArcade Installer (aka ActiveMARK Game Installer) 2.6.0.481 and 3.0.7 uses weak permissions (Create Files/Write Data) for the GameHouse Games directory tree, which allows local users to gain privileges via a Trojan horse DLL in an individual game's directory, as demonstrated by DDRAW.DLL in the Zuma Deluxe directory.
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 confidenceThe RealArcade Installer creates the GameHouse Games directory with overly permissive access control lists allowing any local user Create Files/Write Data permissions. This enables an unprivileged user to place a malicious DLL (such as DDRAW.DLL) into a game's subdirectory, which will be loaded by higher-privilege processes running the installed games, achieving 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= 2.6.0.481= 3.0.7CVSS 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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Identify RealArcade Installer presenceSearch Program Files for RealArcade or GameHouse folders, or check Windows registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall for entries containing 'RealArcade' or 'GameHouse'Affected if RealArcade Installer version 2.6.0.481 or 3.0.7 is installed on the system
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Locate the GameHouse Games directoryLook for the GameHouse Games directory, typically found under C:\Program Files\GameHouse Games or C:\ProgramData\GameHouse Games (or in All Users Application Data)Affected if The GameHouse Games directory exists on the system
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Examine ACLs on GameHouse Games directoryRun 'icacls "C:\Program Files\GameHouse Games"' or right-click the folder, go to Security tab, and verify what permissions Users or Authenticated Users group has. Specifically check for Create Files/Write Data, Modify, or (CI)(OI)(M) inheritance flagsAffected if Non-administrative users (Users group, Authenticated Users, or similar) have Create Files, Write Data, or Modify permissions on the GameHouse Games directory
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Check game subdirectories for writable permissionsList subdirectories within GameHouse Games and run icacls on them to see if standard users can create or write files in those game foldersAffected if Any game subdirectory under GameHouse Games is writable by unprivileged users, allowing DLL planting such as DDRAW.DLL
If RealArcade Installer is present and the GameHouse Games directory tree grants write or create permissions to non-admin users, an unprivileged local user can perform DLL hijacking for 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 dataRestrict permissions on the GameHouse Games directory tree to prevent non-admin users from creating or writing files in game directories. Remove inherited write permissions and explicitly grant only read/execute access for standard users.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2013-2604 — 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-2013-2604 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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