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Link Following (Symlink)Weakness · CWE-59

CVE-2024-11857

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-06-02
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
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
Bluetooth HCI Adaptor from Realtek has a Link Following vulnerability. Local attackers with regular privileges can create a symbolic link with the same name as a specific file, causing the product to delete arbitrary files pointed to by the link. Subsequently, attackers can leverage arbitrary file deletion to 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 · moderate confidence

A Link Following (symlink) vulnerability in Realtek's Bluetooth HCI Adaptor allows local attackers with regular user privileges to create a symbolic link with a specific filename, causing the product to follow the symlink and delete arbitrary files. This arbitrary file deletion can be leveraged for privilege escalation, likely by deleting critical system or configuration files to disrupt services or gain elevated access.

MitigationImplement strict file operation validation by checking for symlinks before file operations (e.g., using O_NOFOLLOW flags, lstat() checks), ensuring files are not symlinks before deletion, and applying the principle of least privilege to file permissions.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

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 Realtek Bluetooth hardware or software presence
    Check for Realtek Bluetooth adapters by running 'hciconfig -a' or looking for Realtek Bluetooth devices in 'lsusb' output. On Windows, check Device Manager for Realtek Bluetooth radio devices.
    Affected if Realtek Bluetooth hardware or software is present on the system
  2. Check for Realtek Bluetooth driver/software installation
    Look for Realtek Bluetooth-related processes, services, or drivers. On Linux, check for 'rtl*' or 'bt*' processes. On Windows, check for Realtek Bluetooth services in Services.msc.
    Affected if Realtek Bluetooth software or drivers are installed and running
  3. Determine the installed Realtek Bluetooth software version
    Query the installed Bluetooth stack version. On Linux, check package managers for installed Realtek Bluetooth packages and their versions. On Windows, right-click the Realtek Bluetooth device in Device Manager and view Properties > Driver details.
    Affected if The installed version matches or falls within an affected version range if known, or cannot be determined to be patched
  4. Verify file operation permissions in Bluetooth directories
    Inspect directories where the Bluetooth software performs file operations for overly permissive write permissions that could allow a regular user to create symlinks.
    Affected if Regular user accounts have write access to directories used by the Realtek Bluetooth service for file operations
  5. Check for the vulnerable symlink behavior
    If the specific filename mentioned in the CVE is known, attempt to create a test symlink with that filename in the target directory (in a non-production environment only) to verify if the service follows it.
    Affected if The service follows symlinks and performs operations on the linked target rather than rejecting symlink paths

A system is affected if it runs Realtek Bluetooth hardware with software that does not validate symlinks before file deletion operations, allowing a local attacker to delete arbitrary files via symlink manipulation.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Implement strict file operation validation by checking for symlinks before file operations (e.g., using O_NOFOLLOW flags, lstat() checks), ensuring files are not symlinks before deletion, and applying the principle of least privilege to file permissions.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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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-2024-11857 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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