ProximityApplication · Cisco
CVE-2021-1240
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 vulnerability in the loading process of specific DLLs in Cisco Proximity Desktop for Windows could allow an authenticated, local attacker to load a malicious library. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have valid credentials on the Windows system. This vulnerability is due to incorrect handling of directory paths at run time. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by placing a malicious DLL file in a specific location on the targeted system. This file will execute when the vulnerable application launches. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code on the targeted system with the privileges of another user’s account.
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 hijacking vulnerability in Cisco Proximity Desktop for Windows allows an authenticated local attacker to place a malicious DLL file in a specific directory that the application loads from at runtime. The vulnerability stems from incorrect handling of directory paths during DLL loading, enabling arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the user launching the application.
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
ProximityApplication
< 3.1.0CVSS 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
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 Cisco Proximity installationCheck the Windows Add or Remove Programs list, or search for 'Cisco Proximity' in Program Files directories, to confirm whether Cisco Proximity Desktop is installed on the system.Affected if Cisco Proximity Desktop is not found on the system, the vulnerability does not apply.
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Determine installed versionRight-click the Cisco Proximity application in the Start menu or in Add/Remove Programs, select Properties, and view the Version field. Alternatively, right-click the main executable file (commonly named CiscoProximity.exe or similar) and check its version information.Affected if Unable to determine the version means the product may not be present or access is restricted.
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Compare version to affected rangeCompare the identified version number to the affected range. The vulnerability affects all versions less than 3.1.0. If the version is 3.1.0 or higher, the system is not vulnerable to this specific flaw.Affected if The system is affected if Cisco Proximity Desktop is installed with a version number lower than 3.1.0.
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Verify user contextConfirm that the current user account has write access to directories from which Cisco Proximity loads DLLs at runtime. Check folder permissions on the application installation directory and any associated data directories.Affected if The DLL hijacking can only be exploited if an attacker can write a malicious DLL to a directory that Cisco Proximity loads from; restricting write permissions mitigates the exploit condition even on vulnerable versions.
A user is affected if Cisco Proximity Desktop for Windows is installed with a version lower than 3.1.0 and the application loads DLLs from a directory where an attacker can place a malicious file.
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 data3.1.0
Restrict write permissions on directories from which the application loads DLLs to prevent unauthorized DLL placement, and apply vendor-provided patches when available.
Fix this in Proximity
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $4,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-1240 — 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-2021-1240 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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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