CVE-2014-3460
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 · uneditedDirectory traversal vulnerability in the DumpToFile method in the NQMcsVarSet ActiveX control in Agent Manager in NetIQ Sentinel allows remote attackers to create arbitrary files, and consequently execute arbitrary code, via a crafted pathname.
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 directory traversal vulnerability exists in the DumpToFile method of the NQMcsVarSet ActiveX control within the Agent Manager component of NetIQ Sentinel. Attackers can craft pathname arguments containing traversal sequences (e.g., ../) to write files to arbitrary locations on the filesystem beyond the intended directory, potentially overwriting system files or placing executable content for subsequent code execution.
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 dataall versionsall versionsCVSS 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
- M
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:M/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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Check if NetIQ Sentinel or Sentinel Agent Manager is installedLook for the product in Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall or check for the installation directory (typically C:\Novell\Sentinel or C:\NetIQ\Sentinel)Affected if The product is installed on the system
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Locate the NQMcsVarSet ActiveX control DLLSearch for nqmcsvar.dll or similar NQMcsVarSet files in the Sentinel installation directory and subfolders, or check registry under HKCR\CLSID for the ActiveX control registrationAffected if The NQMcsVarSet ActiveX control DLL is present on the system
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Verify the ActiveX control is registered as safe for scriptingCheck Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{CLSID of NQMcsVarSet}\Implemented Categories for the 'Safe for Scripting' category, or check IE security settings for the ActiveX controlAffected if The ActiveX control is marked as safe for scripting or allowed to run in Internet Explorer
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Confirm the DumpToFile method is accessibleAttempt to instantiate the ActiveX control via COM (for example, using a VBScript script with CreateObject('NQMcsVarSet.VarSet') or checking if the method is exposed in the registered type library)Affected if The DumpToFile method of the NQMcsVarSet ActiveX control can be invoked
If NetIQ Sentinel or Sentinel Agent Manager is installed with the NQMcsVarSet ActiveX control present and accessible (especially in Internet Explorer), the system is affected by CVE-2014-3460 because all versions of these products contain the vulnerable component.
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 dataApply the vendor-supplied patch for CVE-2014-3460 to update the NQMcsVarSet ActiveX control in NetIQ Sentinel Agent Manager, and consider disabling the ActiveX control in Internet Explorer until the patch is deployed if the attack vector involves browsing to malicious pages.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-3460 — 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-2014-3460 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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