CVE-2019-18279
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 · uneditedIn Phoenix SCT WinFlash 1.1.12.0 through 1.5.74.0, the included drivers could be used by a malicious Windows application to gain elevated privileges. Adverse impacts are limited to the Windows environment and there is no known direct impact to the UEFI firmware. This was fixed in late June 2019.
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 confidencePhoenix SCT WinFlash versions 1.1.12.0 through 1.5.74.0 include drivers that can be exploited by a malicious Windows application to achieve elevated (SYSTEM) privileges. This is a local privilege escalation vulnerability where the vulnerable drivers remain installed after the software is used, allowing any code running on the system to leverage them for privilege escalation. The vulnerability is limited to the Windows environment with no direct UEFI firmware impact.
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>= 1.1.12.0, <= 1.5.74.0CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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.
-
Check if Phoenix SCT WinFlash is installedOpen Programs and Features (appwiz.cpl) and look for 'Phoenix Securecore Technology' or 'Phoenix SCT WinFlash' in the installed programs list, or check for the presence of Phoenix-related drivers in C:\Windows\System32\driversAffected if The program or Phoenix drivers are present on the system
-
Determine the installed version of Phoenix SCT WinFlashIf the program is listed in Programs and Features, the version number is typically displayed in the 'Version' column. If not visible there, right-click the program and select Properties, then check the Details tab for the product versionAffected if The version falls within the range 1.1.12.0 through 1.5.74.0 inclusive
-
Enumerate Phoenix drivers in the Windows driver storeOpen Command Prompt as Administrator and run 'driverquery /v | findstr -i phoenix' to list loaded Phoenix drivers, or check C:\Windows\System32\drivers for .sys files with 'phoenix' in the nameAffected if Any Phoenix drivers are present and loaded on the system (the vulnerability allows any code to exploit these drivers for privilege escalation)
A system is affected if Phoenix SCT WinFlash version 1.1.12.0 through 1.5.74.0 was ever installed and the vulnerable drivers remain present on the system, regardless of whether the WinFlash application itself is still installed.
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 dataUpdate Phoenix SCT WinFlash to a version released after late June 2019, or uninstall the software and remove its drivers from all affected systems to prevent exploitation by local attackers.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,008.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-18279 — 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-2019-18279 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
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.
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.
- 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