CVE-2018-0598
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 Self-extracting archive files created by IExpress bundled with Microsoft Windows allows an attacker to gain privileges via a Trojan horse DLL in an unspecified 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 · moderate confidenceIExpress self-extracting archives have an untrusted search path vulnerability where the executable loads DLLs from directories that may be user-controlled or writable, allowing an attacker to place a malicious DLL that gets loaded with elevated 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 dataall versionsCVSS 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:3.1/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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Identify IExpress self-extracting archivesSearch for .exe files created by IExpress - typically found in temporary directories or distributed with legacy software. Use 'dir /s /b C:\*.exe' and inspect file properties, or look for the IExpress wizard-generated files (commonly named setup.exe, update.exe, or similar in software distribution folders).Affected if Found .exe files created by the IExpress tool in any directory on the system
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Verify extraction directory locationRun the identified IExpress .exe in a controlled environment and observe where it extracts temporary files. Check the default extraction path (typically %TEMP% or the directory where the .exe is run from).Affected if The extraction directory is a location writable by non-privileged users
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Check extraction directory permissionsRight-click the extraction directory, go to Properties > Security, and verify which users have Write or Modify permissions. Use 'icacls <directory>' command to list permissions.Affected if Non-privileged users have Write or Modify access to the extraction directory
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Assess DLL search path vulnerabilityExamine the directories in the DLL search path when the IExpress archive runs (current directory, system32, Windows directory, PATH). Check if any of these directories are user-writable.Affected if Any directory in the DLL search path is writable by non-privileged users
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Confirm privilege context of executionDetermine if the IExpress archive is executed with elevated privileges (Run as Administrator) or by privileged services/scheduled tasks. Check the context in which the archive runs.Affected if The IExpress archive runs with administrative or SYSTEM privileges
Your environment is affected if you have IExpress-created self-extracting archives that extract to directories writable by non-privileged users and execute with elevated privileges, allowing DLL hijacking with those elevated rights.
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 dataAudit for and recreate or replace IExpress-created self-extracting archives; ensure extracted directories are not writable by non-privileged users; consider migrating to modern installer frameworks.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,808.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-0598 — 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-2018-0598 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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