CVE-2016-1742
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 the installer in Apple iTunes before 12.4 allows local users to gain privileges via a Trojan horse DLL in the current working 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 confidenceThis is a DLL hijacking vulnerability in the Apple iTunes installer prior to version 12.4. The installer uses an untrusted search path when loading dynamic-link libraries, allowing it to load a malicious DLL placed in the current working directory instead of the legitimate system DLL, leading to 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<= 12.3.1CVSS 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
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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 installed iTunes versionOpen iTunes, then go to Help > About iTunes to display the version number. Alternatively, open Programs and Features in Control Panel, find iTunes in the list, and note the version shown.Affected if The version displayed is 12.3.1 or lower (any version through 12.3.1).
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Verify installer is presentLocate the iTunes installer file on the system. Common paths include the original download location, a downloads folder, or installation media. Look for files named iTunesSetup.exe, iTunes64Setup.exe, or similar installer executables.Affected if An installer executable exists on the system and the associated iTunes version (from step 1) is 12.3.1 or lower.
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Confirm installer vulnerability conditionThe vulnerability requires the installer to be executed from a directory containing a malicious DLL. This condition exists if the installer from an affected version (12.3.1 or lower) could be run from a directory that is not the system default installation directory.Affected if The installer from an affected version exists and could be launched from any directory other than a trusted system directory.
A system is affected if iTunes version 12.3.1 or lower is installed, or if an installer for that version range is present on the system and could be executed.
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 iTunes to version 12.4 or later. Avoid running the installer from untrusted or shared directories, and ensure the current working directory is trusted when executing the installer.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-1742 — 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-2016-1742 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data