CVE-2014-2848
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 · uneditedA race condition in the wmi_malware_scan.nbin plugin before 201402262215 for Nessus 5.2.1 allows local users to gain privileges by replacing the dissolvable agent executable in the Windows temp directory with a Trojan horse program.
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 confidenceA race condition in the wmi_malware_scan.nbin Nessus plugin (versions before 201402262215) allows local Windows users to replace a dissolvable agent executable in the temp directory with a malicious Trojan horse program during a brief time window, 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= 5.2.1<= 201402092115CVSS 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 Nessus versionOpen the Nessus web interface (usually https://localhost:8834) and check the version displayed in the About section, or run 'nessusd -v' from the command lineAffected if The installed version is exactly 5.2.1
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Verify Plugin Set dateIn the Nessus web interface, go to the 'Plugin' tab or 'Settings' > 'About' to view the Plugin Set date (shown as a timestamp like YYYYMMDDHHMM)Affected if The Plugin Set date is 201402092115 or earlier (less than or equal to 201402092115)
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Confirm wmi_malware_scan.nbin is loadedIn Nessus, go to 'Scans' > 'Templates' > select a WMI-based scan or check the plugin list for wmi_malware_scan.nbin under the 'Malware' familyAffected if The wmi_malware_scan.nbin plugin is present and enabled in any scan policy
You are affected if you are running Nessus version 5.2.1 with a Plugin Set date of 201402092115 or earlier, and you use scans that include the wmi_malware_scan plugin.
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 dataUpdate Nessus plugin wmi_malware_scan.nbin to version 201402262215 or later to remediate the insecure temporary file handling race condition.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,696.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-2848 — 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-2014-2848 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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