CVE-2020-5674
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 · uneditedUntrusted search path vulnerability in the installers of multiple SEIKO EPSON products allows an attacker to gain privileges via a Trojan horse DLL in an unspecified directory.
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 confidenceThis is a DLL hijacking vulnerability in SEIKO EPSON installers where the application loads dynamic link libraries from untrusted search paths (likely the current working directory or system PATH). An attacker can place a malicious DLL in a location where the installer will search for it, causing the Trojan horse DLL to be loaded and executed with elevated privileges during the installation process.
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 versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall 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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Identify installed Epson softwareOpen Control Panel > Programs and Features (or run 'appwiz.cpl') and search for any of these: Epson Album Print, Epson Color Calibration Utility, Epson Colorbase, Epson Colorio Easy Print, Epson Connect, Epson Creativity Suite, Epson E Photo, Epson Easy Photo Print. Also check the installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\Epson or C:\Program Files (x86)\Epson) for these applications.Affected if Any of the listed Epson products appear in installed programs or exist in the filesystem.
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Locate installer executablesSearch for installer files (.exe or .msi) for these products. Common locations: original download folder, C:\Users\username\Downloads, C:\Temp, or any folder where the installer was originally run from. Look for files like Setup.exe, install.exe, or product-specific installers.Affected if Installer files exist in user-accessible directories (Downloads, Temp, Desktop) rather than secured administrative locations.
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Check for unexpected DLLs near installersExamine the folder where the installer is stored (or was run from). Look for DLL files with common names that installers might load: crypt32.dll, version.dll, wininet.dll, urlmon.dll, bcrypt.dll, or any recently modified DLLs that do not belong to the operating system. Use 'dir /a' to show all files including hidden ones.Affected if Unexpected DLL files are present in the same directory as the installer or in directories where installers are commonly run.
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Verify DLL search path behaviorCheck Windows SafeDLLSearchMode setting by running 'reg query HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager /v SafeDllSearchMode'. A value of 1 means safe search is enabled (directory searched first), 0 means vulnerable (current directory searched before system directories).Affected if SafeDllSearchMode is set to 0, or the installer is run from directories with weak access controls (like shared network folders or user Downloads).
You are affected if any of the listed Epson products are installed and the installer can be run from or has been run from directories where an attacker could place a malicious DLL, especially if SafeDllSearchMode is disabled.
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 dataRun installers from trusted directories with controlled access, ensure the installation directory is clean, and apply vendor-supplied patches when available. Consider disabling DLL search path hijacking through manifest settings or SafeDLLSearchMode registry changes.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-5674 — 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-2020-5674 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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