CVE-2017-16690
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 malicious DLL preload attack possible on NwSapSetup and Installation self-extracting program for SAP Plant Connectivity 2.3 and 15.0. It is possible that SAPSetup / NwSapSetup.exe loads system DLLs like DWMAPI.dll (located in your Syswow64 / System32 folder) from the folder the executable is in and not from the system location. The desired behavior is that system dlls are only loaded from the system folders. If a dll with the same name as the system dll is located in the same folder as the executable, this dll is loaded and code is executed.
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 confidenceDLL preloading/hijacking vulnerability in SAP Plant Connectivity's NwSapSetup.exe and installation program. The application loads system DLLs (e.g., DWMAPI.dll) from its own directory instead of the system directories, allowing an attacker to place a malicious DLL with the same name in the executable's folder to achieve 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= 2.3= 15.0CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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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Confirm SAP Plant Connectivity installationLook for SAP Plant Connectivity in installed programs or check the default installation path (C:\Program Files\SAP\SAP Plant Connectivity\) for the presence of the application.Affected if SAP Plant Connectivity is not installed on the system.
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Verify affected versionLocate the installation directory and check the version information of the installed SAP Plant Connectivity components. Compare your installed version to the affected versions (2.3 or 15.0).Affected if The installed version is 2.3 or 15.0.
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Locate vulnerable executableSearch for NwSapSetup.exe in the SAP Plant Connectivity installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\SAP\SAP Plant Connectivity\ or subdirectories).Affected if NwSapSetup.exe exists in the application directory.
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Check directory writabilityVerify if the directory containing NwSapSetup.exe has write permissions for standard users or low-privileged accounts.Affected if The application directory is writable by non-admin users, allowing placement of a malicious DLL.
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Identify DLL loading behaviorInspect the application directory for DWMAPI.dll or use process monitoring tools to observe which DLLs the executable attempts to load from its own directory.Affected if The executable loads DWMAPI.dll (or similar system DLLs) from its directory rather than system directories.
If SAP Plant Connectivity versions 2.3 or 15.0 is installed with the NwSapSetup.exe executable present in a writable directory, the system is vulnerable to DLL hijacking via malicious DLL placement.
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 dataReplace the executable with a patched version that uses explicit DLL paths or enable safe DLL search mode to prevent loading from the application directory. Alternatively, ensure the application runs from a secure directory with restricted write access.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 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-2017-16690 — 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-2017-16690 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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