CVE-2021-33064
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 · uneditedUncontrolled search path in the software installer for Intel(R) System Studio for all versions, may allow an authenticated user to potentially enable escalation of privilege via local access.
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 confidenceUncontrolled search path vulnerability in Intel System Studio installer allows an authenticated local user to place malicious files in directories searched by the installer, potentially leading to privilege escalation. This is a classic binary planting/DLL hijacking issue where relative path resolution can be exploited.
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 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
- 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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Identify Intel System Studio installer presenceSearch the system for the Intel System Studio installer executable. Common installer names may include setup, install, or issetup in the product directory. Use file search tools to locate any installer files related to Intel System Studio.Affected if The installer executable is found on the system in a location accessible to local users.
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Check directory permissions on installer locationExamine file system permissions on the directory containing the Intel System Studio installer. Use operating system commands to list ACLs or permissions (such as icacls on Windows or ls -la on Linux) on the folder where the installer resides.Affected if Non-privileged or untrusted users have write permissions to the installer directory, allowing them to place malicious files.
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Verify installer execution path securityDetermine where the installer was run from. Check if it was executed from a user-writable location such as a network share, USB drive, or download folder rather than an administrator-controlled secure directory.Affected if The installer runs or has been run from directories with weak access controls where an attacker could have planted malicious DLLs or executables.
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Audit recent installer activityReview installation logs, Windows Event Viewer entries for Intel System Studio installation events, or bash history showing installation commands. Check timestamps and user accounts associated with installation activity.Affected if Installation events show execution from untrusted paths or by lower-privileged users who could exploit the search path issue.
A user is likely affected if the Intel System Studio installer exists on their system in a location where untrusted local users can write files, enabling DLL hijacking or binary planting 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 dataApply available patches/updates from Intel for System Studio. Ensure installer runs from trusted locations with secure permissions. Use absolute paths when deploying. Verify integrity of installer binaries before execution.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-33064 — 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-2021-33064 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