CVE-2018-3649
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 · uneditedDLL injection vulnerability in the installation executables (Autorun.exe and Setup.exe) for Intel's wireless drivers and related software in Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC, Tri-Band Wireless-AC and Wireless-AC family of products allows a local attacker to cause escalation of privilege via remote code execution.
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 confidenceA DLL injection vulnerability exists in Intel wireless driver installation executables (Autorun.exe and Setup.exe) for Dual Band Wireless-AC, Tri-Band Wireless-AC and Wireless-AC products. A local attacker can exploit this by placing a malicious DLL in a location where the installer will load it, achieving privilege escalation and remote code execution capabilities.
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< 20.20.2.2< 20.20.2.2< 20.20.2.2< 20.20.2.2< 20.20.2.2< 20.20.2.2< 20.20.2.2< 20.20.2.2CVSS 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 Intel wireless adapter modelOpen Device Manager, expand Network adapters, look for Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC, Tri-Band Wireless-AC, or Wireless-AC products listed (e.g., 3160, 7260, 7265, 3165)Affected if The device matches one of the affected models listed in the CVE (3160, 7260, 7265, or 3165 variants)
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Check installed driver versionIn Device Manager, right-click the Intel wireless adapter, select Properties, go to Driver tab, note the Driver VersionAffected if The driver version is lower than 20.20.2.2 (for example, 19.x.x.x or earlier)
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Locate installer executables in driver directoriesSearch driver installation folders for Autorun.exe or Setup.exe files (common paths include C:\Program Files\Intel\WiFi\, C:\ProgramData\Intel\Wireless\, or the original installer download location)Affected if Autorun.exe or Setup.exe from the affected driver package exists on the system
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Verify driver package versionCheck the properties of the installed Intel wireless driver package by viewing the INF file or checking Intel PROSet/Wireless software versionAffected if The package version shown is less than 20.20.2.2
A user is affected if they have an affected Intel wireless adapter (3160, 7260, 7265, or 3165) with a driver version below 20.20.2.2, or if vulnerable installer executables (Autorun.exe or Setup.exe) from an unpatched driver package are present on the system.
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 data20.20.2.2
Apply the vendor-supplied patch by updating Intel wireless drivers and associated software to the latest version from Intel's support website, or reinstall with a patched installer version.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-3649 — 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-2018-3649 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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