CVE-2014-0818
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 Autodesk AutoCAD before 2014 allows local users to gain privileges and execute arbitrary VBScript code via a Trojan horse FAS file in the FAS file search path.
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 vulnerability in Autodesk AutoCAD versions prior to 2014 allows local privilege escalation via malicious FAS files placed in the FAS file search path. When AutoCAD loads these Trojan horse FAS files, arbitrary VBScript code executes with the privileges of the user running AutoCAD.
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<= 2013CVSS 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
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
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 the installed AutoCAD versionOpen AutoCAD and go to Help > About AutoCAD, or right-click the acad.exe file and select Properties > Details to view the version. Alternatively, check the Windows Registry under HKLM\Software\Autodesk\AutoCAD for the installed version key.Affected if The version is 2013 or earlier (any version prior to AutoCAD 2014).
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Locate the FAS file search path configurationIn AutoCAD, type OPTIONS at the command line and navigate to the Files tab. Expand 'Support File Search Path' to view all directories AutoCAD searches for FAS files and other support files.Affected if The search path includes directories that are writable by non-privileged users, such as user profile folders, temp directories, or network shares with weak permissions.
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Verify write permissions on search path directoriesRight-click each directory listed in the support file search path, select Properties > Security, and check which users or groups have Write or Modify permissions. Focus on directories outside the protected Program Files folder.Affected if Any directory in the FAS search path grants write access to standard users or anonymous accounts, allowing them to place malicious FAS files.
You are affected if running AutoCAD 2013 or earlier and the support file search path includes directories writable by non-administrative users.
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 AutoCAD 2014 or later; alternatively, ensure the FAS file search path only contains directories writable by trusted administrators and does not include user-writable locations.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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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-2014-0818 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
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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