CVE-2017-12480
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 · uneditedSandboxie installer 5071703 has a DLL Hijacking or Unsafe DLL Loading Vulnerability via a Trojan horse dwmapi.dll or profapi.dll file in an AppData\Local\Temp 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 confidenceThe Sandboxie installer 5071703 is vulnerable to DLL hijacking because it loads DLLs (specifically dwmapi.dll or profapi.dll) from the untrusted AppData\Local\Temp directory. An attacker with local access can place a malicious DLL in this location, which will be loaded with the installer's privileges, allowing 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 data= 5071703CVSS 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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Identify installed Sandboxie versionCheck the installed version of Sandboxie by examining the program files directory (typically C:\Program Files\Sandboxie or C:\Program Files (x86)\Sandboxie) or checking Add/Remove Programs for Sandboxie entries. Look at version information in the executable properties or registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Sandboxie or similar keys.Affected if The installed version corresponds to installer build 5071703, indicating the vulnerable installer was used.
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Check installer source and build numberReview any installer files (e.g., Sandboxie-Setup.exe, SandboxieInstall.exe) in download folders or installer repositories. Right-click the file, go to Properties, and check the File Version or Product Version field for build number 5071703.Affected if An installer binary with build/version 5071703 is present on the system.
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Audit Temp directory contents at install timeExamine the contents of %LOCALAPPDATA%\Temp (AppData\Local\Temp) directory. Check for unexpected or recently created dwmapi.dll or profapi.dll files, especially if their digital signatures are missing or from unknown publishers. Review file creation timestamps around the time of Sandboxie installation.Affected if Unexpected dwmapi.dll or profapi.dll files exist in the Temp directory, particularly if unsigned or placed by an untrusted user during the install window.
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Verify installer digital signatureRight-click the Sandboxie installer executable, select Properties, go to the Digital Signatures tab, and verify the signature is valid and from a trusted publisher (Sandboxie LLC or similar). Check if the certificate chain is intact.Affected if The installer is unsigned, has an invalid signature, or was obtained from an untrusted source.
You are affected if the Sandboxie installer version 5071703 was run on your system, or if an installer with this build number exists on your machine and the Temp directory could have been accessed by untrusted users during installation.
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 dataAvoid running the Sandboxie installer from untrusted sources. Organizations should clear or sanitize the Temp directory before running installers and verify installer integrity using digital signatures.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-12480 — 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-2017-12480 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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