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Total SecurityApplication · Quickheal

CVE-2022-31467

HIGH · 7.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-05-23
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 12.1.1.27 or later.
See remediation →
73/100
Remediation priority · Elevated

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
A DLL hijacking vulnerability in the installed for Quick Heal Total Security prior to 12.1.1.27 allows a local attacker to achieve privilege escalation, leading to execution of arbitrary code, via the installer not restricting the search path for required DLLs and then not verifying the signature of the DLLs it tries to load.

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 confidence

Quick Heal Total Security versions prior to 12.1.1.27 contain a DLL hijacking vulnerability in the installer. The installer does not restrict the DLL search path and fails to verify DLL signatures before loading them. A local attacker who can place a malicious DLL in a directory the installer searches (such as the installer's directory or system DLL search paths) can cause the installer to load this DLL, resulting in privilege escalation to SYSTEM level and arbitrary code execution.

MitigationUpdate Quick Heal Total Security to version 12.1.1.27 or later. Additionally, ensure that only trusted users have write access to directories where installers run and to system directories to prevent DLL planting attacks.

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
Total SecurityApplication
Affected:< 12.1.1.27

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
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/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. Confirm Quick Heal Total Security installation
    Check for Quick Heal Total Security in the system by examining installed programs. On Windows, open 'Programs and Features' or run: Get-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*' | Where-Object {$_.DisplayName -like '*Quick Heal*'}
    Affected if Quick Heal Total Security appears in the installed programs list
  2. Determine installed version
    Locate the installed version of Quick Heal Total Security. Common locations include the uninstall registry key above, or check the program files directory (usually C:\Program Files\Quick Heal\Total Security). Right-click the main executable, select Properties, and view the Version tab.
    Affected if The version number shown is lower than 12.1.1.27 (for example, 12.1.1.26, 12.0.x.x, or earlier)
  3. Inspect installer directory for unexpected DLLs
    Navigate to the directory containing the Quick Heal installer executable (if the installer is still present on the system). Examine the folder for any DLL files that were not originally part of the installation package. Look for recently added or suspicious DLLs.
    Affected if Any unsigned or unexpected DLL files are present in the same folder as the installer executable
  4. Check for recent DLL planting in system directories
    Review the Windows\System32 and Windows\SysWOW64 directories for any recently created or modified DLL files that may have been placed there. Use PowerShell: Get-ChildItem -Path C:\Windows\System32 -Filter *.dll | Where-Object {$_.LastWriteTime -gt (Get-Date).AddDays(-30)}
    Affected if Unsigned or suspicious DLLs exist in system DLL directories with recent creation dates

You are affected if Quick Heal Total Security version 12.1.1.27 or later is NOT installed, or if unexpected DLLs are found in installer-related directories.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 12.1.1.27 or later
Fixed in 12.1.1.27
Interim mitigation

Update Quick Heal Total Security to version 12.1.1.27 or later. Additionally, ensure that only trusted users have write access to directories where installers run and to system directories to prevent DLL planting attacks.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

12.1.1.27 or later

  1. Upgrade Quick Heal Total Security to version 12.1.1.27 or later
  2. After upgrade, verify the installation completes without DLL loading errors
  3. Confirm Quick Heal services start normally post-upgrade
Caveat Standard upgrade - ensure compatible with your operating system

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Total Security Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,920
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,072.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2022-31467 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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