CVE-2021-28825
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 · uneditedThe Windows Installation component of TIBCO Software Inc.'s TIBCO Messaging - Eclipse Mosquitto Distribution - Core - Community Edition and TIBCO Messaging - Eclipse Mosquitto Distribution - Core - Enterprise Edition contains a vulnerability that theoretically allows a low privileged attacker with local access on some versions of the Windows operating system to insert malicious software. The affected component can be abused to execute the malicious software inserted by the attacker with the elevated privileges of the component. This vulnerability results from a lack of access restrictions on certain files and/or folders in the installation. Affected releases are TIBCO Software Inc.'s TIBCO Messaging - Eclipse Mosquitto Distribution - Core - Community Edition: versions 1.3.0 and below and TIBCO Messaging - Eclipse Mosquitto Distribution - Core - Enterprise Edition: versions 1.3.0 and below.
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 confidenceThis is a local privilege escalation vulnerability in the Windows installer for TIBCO Messaging - Eclipse Mosquitto Distribution. The installer lacks proper access restrictions on certain files and folders, allowing a low-privileged local attacker to place malicious software that gets executed with elevated (SYSTEM) privileges during installation or maintenance operations.
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<= 1.3.0CVSS 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
- 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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Find installed version of Tibco Messaging Eclipse Mosquitto DistributionCheck the Windows registry at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\ for an entry named 'TIBCO Messaging - Eclipse Mosquitto Distribution' or navigate to the installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\TIBCO\ or similar) and locate a version file or the mosquitto.exe executable propertiesAffected if The installed version is 1.3.0 or lower, or the version cannot be determined and is assumed to be within the affected range
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Verify installation directory permissionsRight-click the installation folder, select Properties, then go to the Security tab. Check the permissions for Users or authenticated users groupAffected if The Users group or non-admin users have Write or Modify permissions on the installation directory
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Check for modifiable executable files in installation folderOpen PowerShell and run: Get-ChildItem -Path 'C:\Program Files\TIBCO\Messaging - Eclipse Mosquitto*' -Recurse -File | Where-Object { $_.Extension -in '.exe','.dll','.bat','.cmd','.ps1' } | Get-Acl | Where-Object { $_.Access | Where-Object { $_.IdentityReference -match 'Users' -and $_.FileSystemRights -match 'Write|Modify' } }Affected if Executable files (.exe, .dll, .bat, .cmd, .ps1) are writable by low-privilege users such as the Users group
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Verify installer logs or temporary foldersCheck %TEMP% and the installation directory for installer logs or temporary files created during setup that may be writableAffected if Installer-related files in these locations are writable by non-admin users
A user is affected if Tibco Messaging Eclipse Mosquitto Distribution version 1.3.0 or lower is installed AND the installation directory or its contents are writable by low-privilege users, allowing potential privilege escalation.
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 dataUpgrade to TIBCO Mosquitto versions above 1.3.0 and audit/restrict file system permissions on the installation directory to prevent low-privilege users from modifying executable files and scripts.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $3,408.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-28825 — 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-2021-28825 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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