CVE-2019-6165
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 · uneditedA DLL search path vulnerability was reported in PaperDisplay Hotkey Service version 1.2.0.8 that could allow privilege escalation. Lenovo has ended support for PaperDisplay Hotkey software as the Night light feature introduced in Windows 10 Build 1703 provides similar features.
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 search path vulnerability (DLL hijacking) in PaperDisplay Hotkey Service version 1.2.0.8 allows a local attacker to load malicious DLLs by placing them in a search path location the service checks, enabling privilege escalation to execute code at the service's elevated privilege level.
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 versionsall 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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Check if PaperDisplay Hotkey Service is installedOpen Windows Services (services.msc) and look for a service named 'PaperDisplay Hotkey Service' or 'PaperDisplay', or run 'sc queryex type= service state= all' and search for PaperDisplay in the outputAffected if The service 'PaperDisplay Hotkey Service' appears in the list of installed services
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Verify the service executable versionOnce the service is found, check the path to its executable (via service properties or 'sc qc PaperDisplay Hotkey Service'), then right-click the .exe file in File Explorer, select Properties, and view the File Version tabAffected if The executable version shows 1.2.0.8 (the vulnerable version)
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Confirm the service is runningRun 'sc query PaperDisplay Hotkey Service' or check the Status column in Services list; a running service is required for the DLL hijacking to be exploitableAffected if The service Status shows 'RUNNING'
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Check if service runs with elevated privilegesOpen Task Manager, find the PaperDisplay Hotkey Service process, right-click and select 'Run as administrator' to test, or use Task Manager's Details tab to check the User Name column for the process; the vulnerability only matters if the service runs under an elevated account (such as SYSTEM)Affected if The service process runs under an account with elevated privileges (e.g., SYSTEM, LocalSystem)
A user is affected if the PaperDisplay Hotkey Service version 1.2.0.8 is installed and running with elevated privileges on a Lenovo Yoga 700 11isk or 14isk 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 dataUninstall PaperDisplay Hotkey Service version 1.2.0.8 as Lenovo has ended support; utilize Windows 10 Build 1703+ built-in Night Light feature as an alternative. No vendor patch will be released.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-6165 — 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-2019-6165 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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