QlikviewApplication · Qlik

CVE-2021-41989

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-01-26
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 12.60.20100.0 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click

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 · unedited
Qlik QlikView through 12.60.20100.0 creates a Temporary File in a Directory with Insecure Permissions.

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 · moderate confidence

Qlik QlikView through version 12.60.20100.0 creates temporary files in directories with insecure permissions, allowing a local attacker to potentially manipulate these files and escalate privileges to execute code with elevated rights.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied patch when released; ensure temporary directories used by QlikView have restrictive permissions (minimum 750 for directories, 640 for files) and monitor for unauthorized file creation.

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
QlikviewApplication
Affected:<= 12.60.20100.0

CVSS 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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify QlikView installation location and version
    Check the QlikView installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\QlikView or C:\Program Files (x86)\QlikView) and locate the version information, often found in the executable properties or in a version file within the installation folder
    Affected if The installed version is 12.60.20100.0 or lower
  2. Locate QlikView temporary file directories
    Identify directories where QlikView stores temporary files - commonly found in the QlikView installation directory under folders named 'Temp', 'temp', or in user profile directories (AppData\Local\QlikView or AppData\Roaming\QlikView)
    Affected if Temporary directories exist within or associated with the QlikView installation
  3. Check permissions on identified temporary directories
    Right-click each temporary directory, go to Properties > Security, and verify the effective permissions. Use 'icacls' command (e.g., icacls "C:\Program Files\QlikView\Temp") to view ACLs in detail
    Affected if Directories grant write or modify access to users other than the owner or Administrators group, or have permissions more permissive than 750 for directories and 640 for files
  4. Scan for newly created temporary files in QlikView directories
    Use File Explorer or PowerShell (Get-ChildItem -Path "C:\Program Files\QlikView" -Recurse -Filter "*.tmp") to enumerate .tmp files and check their parent directory permissions
    Affected if Temporary files exist in directories with overly permissive access controls allowing unauthorized modification
  5. Verify QlikView service account permissions
    Open Services (services.msc), locate the QlikView service, check the 'Log On As' account, then verify that this account's home directory and temp directories used by this service have restrictive permissions
    Affected if The service runs under an account whose associated temp directories are writable by low-privilege users

A system is affected if QlikView version 12.60.20100.0 or lower is installed AND temporary directories used by QlikView have permissions more permissive than the recommended 750 for directories and 640 for files, allowing unauthorized local users to manipulate temp files.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 12.60.20100.0
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor-supplied patch when released; ensure temporary directories used by QlikView have restrictive permissions (minimum 750 for directories, 640 for files) and monitor for unauthorized file creation.

Fix this in Qlikview Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,540
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,464.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-41989 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-41989 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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