CVE-2019-3735
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 · uneditedDell SupportAssist for Business PCs version 2.0 and Dell SupportAssist for Home PCs version 2.2, 2.2.1, 2.2.2, 2.2.3, 3.0, 3.0.1, 3.0.2, 3.1, 3.2, and 3.2.1 contain an Improper Privilege Management Vulnerability. A malicious local user can exploit this vulnerability by inheriting a system thread using a leaked thread handle to gain system privileges on the affected machine.
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 confidenceDell SupportAssist for Business and Home PCs contains an improper privilege management vulnerability where a malicious local user can exploit a leaked thread handle to inherit a system thread and gain SYSTEM-level privileges on the affected machine. This is a local privilege escalation vulnerability stemming from improper handling of thread handles.
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= 2.2= 2.2.1= 2.2.2= 2.2.3= 3.0= 3.0.1= 3.0.2= 3.1= 3.2= 3.2.1= 2.0CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/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.
-
Confirm Dell SupportAssist is installedCheck the system for the presence of Dell SupportAssist software - look in Programs and Features, or search for SupportAssist executables in typical installation directoriesAffected if Dell SupportAssist for Home PCs or Business PCs is found on the system
-
Identify the installed versionLocate and read the version information of the installed Dell SupportAssist application - this is typically accessible via the program's properties in Programs and Features, or by right-clicking the executable and selecting PropertiesAffected if The exact version number can be determined and compared against the affected list
-
Compare version against affected listMatch the installed version to the following affected versions: Home PCs: 2.2, 2.2.1, 2.2.2, 2.2.3, 3.0, 3.0.1, 3.0.2, 3.1, 3.2, 3.2.1; Business PCs: 2.0Affected if The installed version matches any version in the affected list - this indicates the system is vulnerable to local privilege escalation via improper thread handle management
A user is affected if Dell SupportAssist for Home PCs (versions 2.2 through 3.2.1) or Dell SupportAssist for Business PCs (version 2.0) is installed, allowing an unprivileged local attacker to escalate to SYSTEM privileges by exploiting a leaked thread handle.
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 Dell SupportAssist to the latest patched version provided by Dell. Organizations should prioritize patching systems with this software installed, as the vulnerability allows unprivileged local users to escalate to SYSTEM privileges.
- Consultation2.0 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 $3,088.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-3735 — 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-2019-3735 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