CVE-2015-1501
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 · uneditedThe factory.loadExtensionFactory function in TSUnicodeGraphEditorControl in SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor (SAM) allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a UNC path to a crafted binary.
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 confidenceThe vulnerability exists in the TSUnicodeGraphEditorControl component of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor. The factory.loadExtensionFactory function fails to properly validate input paths, allowing attackers to specify a UNC path pointing to a crafted malicious binary which gets loaded and executed, achieving arbitrary 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 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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Verify SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor installationCheck for the presence of SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor in installed programs or by searching for its executable files on the systemAffected if The software is installed - all versions are affected per vendor scope
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Locate TSUnicodeGraphEditorControl componentSearch for files or components named TSUnicodeGraphEditorControl or related DLLs within the SolarWinds installation directoryAffected if The component exists in the installation - this is the vulnerable component
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Inspect loadExtensionFactory function usageReview application configuration files, logs, or code that invokes the factory.loadExtensionFactory method to see if it accepts path parametersAffected if The function accepts external path input without validation - this enables the UNC path injection
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Check for UNC path configurationsSearch configuration files, registry, or application settings for UNC paths (paths starting with \\ ) that may be passed to the vulnerable functionAffected if UNC paths are used in configurations that feed into loadExtensionFactory - this is the exploitation vector
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Monitor for suspicious SMB/UNC path activityReview network logs for outbound SMB connections from the SolarWinds server to unexpected or external UNC pathsAffected if SMB connections to untrusted or external UNC paths are observed - indicates potential exploitation attempt
If SolarWinds Server and Application Monitor is installed with the TSUnicodeGraphEditorControl component and external UNC paths can be passed to the loadExtensionFactory function, the environment is vulnerable to arbitrary code execution via UNC path injection.
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 from SolarWinds for this vulnerability. As defense-in-depth, restrict outbound SMB connections to only trusted internal servers and monitor for suspicious UNC path usage.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-1501 — 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-2015-1501 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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