dbcve.org
Corsair Utility EngineApplication · Corsair

CVE-2018-12441

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-10-11
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click

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 · unedited
The CorsairService Service in Corsair Utility Engine is installed with insecure default permissions, which allows unprivileged local users to execute arbitrary commands via modification of the CorsairService BINARY_PATH_NAME, leading to complete control of the affected system. The issue exists due to the Windows "Everyone" group being granted SERVICE_ALL_ACCESS permissions to the CorsairService Service.

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 confidence

The CorsairService Windows service is installed with an insecure ACL that grants the 'Everyone' group SERVICE_ALL_ACCESS permissions. This allows any local user to stop the service, modify its binary path to point to arbitrary code, and restart it to execute with SYSTEM privileges, achieving complete local privilege escalation.

MitigationRemove SERVICE_ALL_ACCESS permissions for the 'Everyone' group on the CorsairService and restrict to Administrators and SYSTEM account only using sc.exe sdset or equivalent access control tools.

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
Corsair Utility EngineApplication
Affected:= 3.2.87= 3.3.103= 3.4.95= 3.6.109= 3.7.99

CVSS 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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify CorsairService is installed
    Run 'sc query CorsairService' to query the service status. Check if the service exists in the system.
    Affected if The service does not exist - not applicable.
  2. Check Corsair Utility Engine version
    Look in Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall or HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall for an entry named 'Corsair Utility Engine' or similar, and read the DisplayVersion value. Alternatively, check the version of C:\Program Files\Corsair\CORSAIR Utility Engine\iCUE.exe if present.
    Affected if The installed version matches 3.2.87, 3.3.103, 3.4.95, 3.6.109, or 3.7.99.
  3. Inspect ACL on CorsairService
    Run 'sc sdshow CorsairService' from an elevated command prompt or check the service ACL using PowerShell with 'Get-Acl -Path 'Registry::HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\CorsairService'' and examine the security descriptor. Look for the 'Everyone' (S-1-1-0) group with 'FA' (FULL ACCESS) or '0x10000000' (SERVICE_ALL_ACCESS) permissions.
    Affected if The security descriptor shows the Everyone group granted SERVICE_ALL_ACCESS (0xF01FF) or full control permissions on the service.
  4. Verify service binary path is modifiable
    Run 'sc qc CorsairService' to query the current binary path. Attempt to verify if a non-privileged user can modify this path using 'sc sdset CorsairService' or by checking file permissions on the service executable.
    Affected if The service binary path can be modified by a standard user due to overly permissive ACLs.

You are affected if the Corsair Utility Engine matches one of the specific versions (3.2.87, 3.3.103, 3.4.95, 3.6.109, or 3.7.99) AND the CorsairService ACL grants the Everyone group SERVICE_ALL_ACCESS permissions, allowing any local user to reconfigure the service for privilege escalation.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Remove SERVICE_ALL_ACCESS permissions for the 'Everyone' group on the CorsairService and restrict to Administrators and SYSTEM account only using sc.exe sdset or equivalent access control tools.

Fix this in Corsair Utility Engine Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,424.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-12441 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2018-12441 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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.

What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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