dbcve.org
Radeon Pro SoftwareApplication · Amd

CVE-2020-12891

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-02-04
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 21.q2 / 21.4.1 or later.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges

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
AMD Radeon Software may be vulnerable to DLL Hijacking through path variable. An unprivileged user may be able to drop its malicious DLL file in any location which is in path environment variable.

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 · moderate confidence

AMD Radeon Software is vulnerable to DLL hijacking due to insecure DLL loading. The application loads DLLs from directories in the system PATH environment variable without specifying full paths, allowing an unprivileged attacker to place a malicious DLL with a matching name in a PATH directory that the application will subsequently load during execution.

MitigationAMD should update Radeon Software to use secure DLL loading practices (e.g., absolute paths, DLL search order mitigation, or DLL sideloading mitigations). As a workaround, ensure unprivileged users lack write access to any directory in the system PATH.

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
Radeon Pro SoftwareApplication
Affected:< 21.q2
Radeon SoftwareApplication
Affected:< 21.4.1

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
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 checks

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

  1. Identify installed AMD Radeon Software version
    Open Programs and Features (Windows) or check the application properties. The version is typically shown as part of the software name (e.g., 21.3.2) or in the About section of the Radeon Software.
    Affected if The installed version is less than 21.4.1 for AMD Radeon Software, or less than 21.q2 for AMD Radeon Pro Software.
  2. Verify the application is installed
    Check if AMD Radeon Software or AMD Radeon Pro Software is present on the system by looking in the list of installed programs or searching for 'Radeon' in the system.
    Affected if The application is installed and vulnerable based on version comparison in step 1.
  3. Check for write access to PATH directories by unprivileged users
    Open Command Prompt and run 'echo %PATH%' to list all directories in the system PATH. Then for each directory, check permissions using 'icacls [directory]' to see if non-admin users have Write permission.
    Affected if Any directory in the system PATH is writable by unprivileged (non-admin) users, allowing potential DLL hijacking.
  4. Confirm application uses PATH for DLL loading
    This is inherent to the vulnerability. The vulnerability exists because the application loads DLLs from PATH directories without secure loading. No specific config check needed - the vulnerability applies if the version is vulnerable.
    Affected if The vulnerable version is running and the system PATH contains directories writable by unprivileged users.

A system is affected if AMD Radeon Software (version below 21.4.1) or AMD Radeon Pro Software (version below 21.q2) is installed and any directory in the system PATH is writable by non-administrator users.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 21.q2 / 21.4.1 or later
Fixed in 21.q221.4.1
Interim mitigation

AMD should update Radeon Software to use secure DLL loading practices (e.g., absolute paths, DLL search order mitigation, or DLL sideloading mitigations). As a workaround, ensure unprivileged users lack write access to any directory in the system PATH.

Recommended fix High confidence

Radeon Pro Software 21.q2 or later | Radeon Software 21.4.1 or later

  1. Identify the installed AMD Radeon Software product (Radeon Pro Software or Radeon Software)
  2. Check the current installed version of the software
  3. For Radeon Pro Software: download and install version 21.q2 or later from AMD's official website
  4. For Radeon Software: download and install version 21.4.1 or later from AMD's official website
  5. Restart the system after installation to ensure all components are properly loaded
  6. Verify the installed version matches or exceeds the fixed release

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Radeon Pro Software Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
36.0 hours of engineering $6,400
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $10,240.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-12891 — 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-2020-12891 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