CVE-2016-5249
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 · uneditedLenovo Solution Center (LSC) before 3.3.003 allows local users to execute arbitrary code with LocalSystem privileges via vectors involving the LSC.Services.SystemService StartProxy command with a named pipe created in advance and crafted .NET assembly.
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 confidenceLenovo Solution Center before version 3.3.003 contains a local privilege escalation vulnerability where the LSC.Services.SystemService StartProxy command can be abused. A local attacker can create a named pipe and inject a crafted .NET assembly to execute arbitrary code with LocalSystem privileges, effectively achieving full system compromise from an unprivileged user account.
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<= 3.3.002CVSS 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.
-
Check if Lenovo Solution Center is installedOpen Programs and Features (appwiz.cpl) or check the installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\Lenovo\Lenovo Solution Center)Affected if The software is not found, the user is not affected by this specific vulnerability
-
Identify the installed version of Lenovo Solution CenterRight-click the executable in the installation folder, select Properties, then look at the Version tab, or run: Get-ItemProperty 'C:\Program Files\Lenovo\Lenovo Solution Center\LSC.exe' | Select-Object VersionInfoAffected if The version is 3.3.002 or earlier, the system is vulnerable
-
Verify the LSC.Services.SystemService is presentCheck for the presence of the vulnerable service component: search for files named SystemService.exe or SystemService.dll in the Lenovo Solution Center installation directoryAffected if The service component exists, the vulnerable code path is present on the system
-
Check if the Lenovo Solution Center service is runningOpen Services (services.msc) and look for any Lenovo-related services, or run: Get-Service | Where-Object {$_.DisplayName -like '*Lenovo*'}Affected if A Lenovo Solution Center service is running, the attack surface is active and exploitable if version is <= 3.3.002
The system is affected if Lenovo Solution Center version 3.3.002 or earlier is installed and the LSC.Services.SystemService component is present on the system.
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 Lenovo Solution Center to version 3.3.003 or later. If the software is not required, uninstall it to eliminate the attack surface.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 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 $1,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-5249 — 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-2016-5249 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- 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