CVE-2020-7381
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 Rapid7 Nexpose installer versions prior to 6.6.40, the Nexpose installer calls an executable which can be placed in the appropriate directory by an attacker with access to the local machine. This would prevent the installer from distinguishing between a valid executable called during a Security Console installation and any arbitrary code executable using the same file name.
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 confidenceThe Rapid7 Nexpose installer versions prior to 6.6.40 is vulnerable to DLL hijacking/arbitrary code execution. An attacker with local machine access can place a malicious executable with the same name as a legitimate executable that the installer calls, in the appropriate directory. When the installer runs (typically with elevated privileges), it executes the attacker's code instead of the legitimate executable.
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< 6.6.40CVSS 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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Locate the Nexpose installation and determine its versionFind the Nexpose installation directory (commonly in Program Files or a custom path) and locate the version file or executable properties. Typical locations include the main Nexpose directory or a version.info file within it.Affected if The installed version is found to be lower than 6.6.40 (e.g., 6.6.38, 6.6.39, or any version prior to 6.6.40)
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Verify the installation directory permissionsInspect the permissions on the Nexpose installation directory. Use operating system tools to list ACLs (e.g., icacls on Windows or ls -la on Linux) on the directory where Nexpose is installed.Affected if Non-admin or untrusted users have write or execute permissions to the installation directory, allowing them to place malicious executables
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Scan for unauthorized executables in the installation pathList all executable files (.exe, .dll, .bat, .cmd, .ps1) in the Nexpose installation directory and subdirectories. Compare against expected Nexpose binaries.Affected if Any unexpected or unrecognized executables are present in the installation directory, particularly those with names matching system utilities that Nexpose might invoke
You are affected if Nexpose version is below 6.6.40 AND the installation directory allows untrusted users to write files, enabling DLL hijacking during installation.
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 data6.6.40
Upgrade Nexpose installer to version 6.6.40 or later. Additionally, ensure installation directories have restrictive permissions to prevent unauthorized file placement prior to and during installation.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 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-2020-7381 — 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-2020-7381 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data