CVE-2021-23197
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 · uneditedUnquoted service path vulnerability in the Gallagher Controller Service allows an unprivileged user to execute arbitrary code as the account that runs the Controller Service. This issue affects: Gallagher Command Centre 8.50 versions prior to 8.50.2048 (MR3) ;
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 confidenceUnquoted service path vulnerability in the Gallagher Controller Service allows an unprivileged user to place a malicious executable in an unquoted path directory, which Windows will execute when the service starts, achieving arbitrary code execution as the service account.
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>= 8.50, < 8.50.2048CVSS 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
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/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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Determine Gallagher Command Centre installed versionCheck the Windows registry at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{GUID} for DisplayVersion, or look in Program Files\Gallagher for version infoAffected if Installed version is 8.50 or higher but lower than 8.50.2048
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Identify Gallagher Controller ServiceOpen Services console (services.msc) and locate 'Gallagher Controller' or check registry at HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services for a service with 'Gallagher' in the nameAffected if The Gallagher Controller service exists on the system
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Check service binary path for quotingRun 'sc qc "Gallagher Controller"' (or the actual service name) to view the BINARY_PATH_NAME, or check the ImagePath value in registry at HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\<ServiceName>Affected if The binary path contains spaces and is NOT enclosed in quotes (e.g., C:\Program Files\Gallagher\... without quotes)
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Verify path directory is writableCheck file system permissions on each directory in the unquoted service path to determine if standard users can write to any of themAffected if A standard (unprivileged) user has Write permission to a directory in the service path that precedes the executable name
The system is affected if Gallagher Command Centre version is 8.50 through 8.50.2047 and the Gallagher Controller service has an unquoted path with a writable directory that a standard user can exploit to execute code as the service account.
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.
dbcve · scoped8.50.2048
Apply vendor patch (upgrade to Gallagher Command Centre 8.50.2048 MR3 or later) or implement proper path quoting in the service configuration.
Command Centre 8.50.2048 (MR3)
- 1. Back up the existing Command Centre installation, database, and all configuration data
- 2. Download Command Centre version 8.50.2048 (MR3) from the official Gallagher download portal or support site
- 3. Stop the Gallagher Controller Service before beginning the upgrade
- 4. Install Command Centre 8.50.2048 (MR3) following Gallagher's standard upgrade documentation
- 5. After installation, verify the service executable path is now properly quoted in Windows services.msc (the path should include quotes around the full executable path)
- 6. Restart the Gallagher Controller Service
- 7. Verify Command Centre is functioning normally and all expected features are operational
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-23197 — 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-2021-23197 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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