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Armoury Crate ServiceApplication · Asus

CVE-2022-38699

MEDIUM · 5.9 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-09-28
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.2.10.0 or later.
See remediation →
61/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
Armoury Crate Service’s logging function has insufficient validation to check if the log file is a symbolic link. A physical attacker with general user privilege can modify the log file property to a symbolic link that points to arbitrary system file, causing the logging function to overwrite the system file and disrupt the system.

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

The Armoury Crate Service logging function lacks validation to detect whether the target log file is a symbolic link. An attacker with physical access and general user privileges can replace the log file with a symlink pointing to an arbitrary system file, causing the logging function to overwrite that file and disrupt system operation.

MitigationImplement symlink validation (e.g., use O_NOFOLLOW flag or check file type with lstat() before open) in the logging function to reject symbolic links; also apply proper file permissions to prevent unprivileged users from modifying log file properties.

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
Armoury Crate ServiceApplication
Affected:< 5.2.10.0

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
Physical
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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 Armoury Crate Service is installed
    Open Services (services.msc) or run 'sc query ArmoryCrateService' in Command Prompt to check if the service exists
    Affected if The service is not present on the system - no further action needed
  2. Get installed version of Armoury Crate Service
    Check the executable version: right-click C:\Program Files\ASUS\ArmouryCrateService\ArmouryCrateService.exe and view Properties > Details, or run 'wmic datafile where "name='C:\\\\Program Files\\\\ASUS\\\\ArmouryCrateService\\\\ArmouryCrateService.exe'" get Version'
    Affected if The version number is lower than 5.2.10.0 (e.g., 5.2.9.0, 5.2.8.0, etc.)
  3. Verify if the service is currently running
    Run 'sc query ArmoryCrateService' or check the Status column in Services console
    Affected if The service is running - the vulnerable logging function is active and could be exploited
  4. Locate the log file used by the service
    Check the service working directory at C:\Program Files\ASUS\ArmouryCrateService\ for log files (typically *.log files), or monitor file access using Process Monitor while the service writes logs
    Affected if A log file exists and is a symbolic link (use 'cmd /c dir logfilename /AL' or PowerShell 'Get-Item logfile | Select-Object LinkType' to detect)

You are affected if Armoury Crate Service is installed, version is below 5.2.10.0, the service is running, and an attacker could replace a log file with a symlink to overwrite system 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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.2.10.0 or later
Fixed in 5.2.10.0
Interim mitigation

Implement symlink validation (e.g., use O_NOFOLLOW flag or check file type with lstat() before open) in the logging function to reject symbolic links; also apply proper file permissions to prevent unprivileged users from modifying log file properties.

Recommended fix High confidence

Armoury Crate Service version 5.2.10.0 or later

  1. Navigate to the official ASUS support website or Armoury Crate download page
  2. Locate and download the Armoury Crate Service version 5.2.10.0 or later
  3. Uninstall the current version of Armoury Crate Service from the system
  4. Install the downloaded fixed version (5.2.10.0 or newer)
  5. Restart the system or restart the Armoury Crate Service to apply the changes
  6. Verify the installation by checking the installed version matches or exceeds 5.2.10.0
Caveat Standard software upgrade risks apply; ensure backup of custom settings before upgrading

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

Fix this in Armoury Crate Service Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.

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-2022-38699 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