Findit Network Discovery UtilityApplication · Cisco
CVE-2017-12252
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 vulnerability in the Cisco FindIT Network Discovery Utility could allow an authenticated, local attacker to perform a DLL preloading attack, potentially causing a partial impact to device availability, confidentiality, and integrity. The vulnerability is due to the application loading a malicious copy of a specific, nondefined DLL file instead of the DLL file it was expecting. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by placing an affected DLL within the search path of the host system. An exploit could allow the attacker to load a malicious DLL file into the system, thus partially compromising confidentiality, integrity, and availability on the device. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCve89785.
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 confidenceThe Cisco FindIT Network Discovery Utility is vulnerable to DLL preloading because it loads DLLs without specifying full paths, allowing an attacker with local authenticated access to place a malicious DLL in the system search path. When the application runs, it loads the attacker's DLL instead of the legitimate one, potentially executing arbitrary code with the application's privileges.
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
Findit Network Discovery UtilityApplication
= 2.0.3CVSS 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 if Cisco FindIT Network Discovery Utility is installedLook for the application in the Windows installed programs list. Common installation paths include C:\Program Files\Cisco Systems\FindIT or C:\Program Files (x86)\Cisco Systems\FindIT. Check the Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall for an entry named 'Cisco FindIT Network Discovery Utility' or similar.Affected if The application is found installed on the system
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Identify the installed version of Cisco FindIT Network Discovery UtilityLocate the application's executable (commonly named FindITNetworkDiscovery.exe or similar) and right-click to view Properties, then check the Details tab for the File Version. Alternatively, query the Windows Registry under the uninstall key for the DisplayVersion value.Affected if The installed version is exactly 2.0.3
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Verify the application executable locationConfirm the full path to the main executable file. Typical locations are C:\Program Files\Cisco Systems\FindIT\FindITNetworkDiscovery.exe or C:\Program Files (x86)\Cisco Systems\FindIT\FindITNetworkDiscovery.exe.Affected if The executable exists in any installation directory
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Check for writable locations in the DLL search pathExamine the directory where the application executable is located, as well as system directories like C:\Windows\System32, C:\Windows, and any directories listed in the system PATH environment variable. Attempt to create a test file in these locations to determine if they are writable by the current user.Affected if Any directory in the application's search path is writable by a local attacker (enabling DLL preloading attack)
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Confirm the application can load DLLs from the search pathReview the application's behavior by monitoring DLL loading with tools like Process Monitor during application startup. Check whether the application uses absolute paths when loading DLLs or relies on the system DLL search order.Affected if The application loads DLLs without specifying full paths, relying on the system DLL search order
A user is affected if Cisco FindIT Network Discovery Utility version 2.0.3 is installed and any directory in the system's DLL search path (particularly the application's own directory) is writable by a local authenticated attacker.
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 dataRemove unnecessary write access to directories in the system's DLL search path, and update the application to use secure DLL loading practices (e.g., explicit full paths, safe DLL search mode enabled).
Fix this in Findit Network Discovery Utility
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-12252 — 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-2017-12252 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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