CVE-2021-3464
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 DLL search path vulnerability was reported in Lenovo PCManager, prior to version 3.0.400.3252, that could allow privilege escalation.
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 search path vulnerability in Lenovo PCManager allows an attacker to load malicious DLLs from insecure locations, potentially enabling privilege escalation from a low-privileged user context to higher system privileges. This is a classic DLL hijacking issue where the application does not securely specify DLL load paths.
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< 3.0.400.3252CVSS 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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Check if Lenovo PCManager is installedOpen Programs and Features (appwiz.cpl) or check for the presence of Lenovo PCManager in the Start menu. Alternatively, search for the executable at typical installation paths such as C:\Program Files\Lenovo\PCManager\PCManager.exe or C:\Program Files (x86)\Lenovo\PCManager\PCManager.exeAffected if Lenovo PCManager is found installed on the system
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Determine the installed version of PCManager.exeRight-click on the PCManager.exe file (if found), select Properties, then go to the Details tab to view the File Version. Alternatively, run the command: dir "C:\Program Files\Lenovo\PCManager\PCManager.exe" /s or use PowerShell Get-ItemProperty on the executable pathAffected if The displayed File Version is lower than 3.0.400.3252
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Verify version via Windows RegistryOpen Registry Editor and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Lenovo\PCManager or HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Lenovo\PCManager (if present). Look for a Version or DisplayVersion string valueAffected if The registry version value is present and shows a version lower than 3.0.400.3252
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Check for vulnerable DLL loading behaviorMonitor the application startup using Process Monitor (ProcMon) from Sysinternals. Set a filter for Process Name is PCManager.exe and Operation is CreateFile. Look for attempts to load DLLs from the application directory or working directory without fully qualified pathsAffected if PCManager attempts to load DLLs from locations writable by low-privileged users (such as the application directory or current working directory)
The system is affected if Lenovo PCManager is installed with a version lower than 3.0.400.3252 and the application loads DLLs from insecure locations accessible to low-privileged users.
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 data3.0.400.3252
Update Lenovo PCManager to version 3.0.400.3252 or later to remediate the DLL search path vulnerability.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-3464 — 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-2021-3464 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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