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LauncherApplication · Epicgames

CVE-2024-11872

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2024-12-12
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
Epic Games Launcher Incorrect Default Permissions Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows local attackers to escalate privileges on affected installations of Epic Games Launcher. An attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the product installer. The product applies incorrect default permissions to a sensitive folder. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to escalate privileges and execute arbitrary code in the context of SYSTEM. Was ZDI-CAN-24329.

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

The Epic Games Launcher installer creates a folder with overly permissive access controls (likely world-writable or weak ACLs). A local attacker with low-privileged code execution can modify or inject executable content into this folder, which then gets executed by higher-privileged processes running as SYSTEM, achieving privilege escalation.

MitigationApply correct NTFS permissions to the affected folder (restrict to Administrators/SYSTEM only), or reinstall/update Epic Games Launcher to obtain corrected default permissions. Identify and audit the vulnerable folder using access enumeration tools.

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
LauncherApplication
Affected:= 16.6.0-33806133

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:3.0/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 Epic Games Launcher installation and version
    Check for Epic Games Launcher installation at typical paths (C:\Program Files\Epic Games, C:\Program Files (x86)\Epic Games) and retrieve the version from the executable or uninstall registry. Compare your installed version to 16.6.0-33806133.
    Affected if The installed version matches 16.6.0-33806133 exactly.
  2. Locate the vulnerable installation folder
    Find the main Epic Games Launcher installation directory. In typical deployments, this is within the Epic Games folder under Program Files. Identify subfolders that contain executable content (such as the Launcher folder itself or subdirectories like Launcher\Engine).
    Affected if The folder path contains Epic Games Launcher binaries and matches the affected version installation.
  3. Audit NTFS permissions on the installation folder
    Use icacls or Get-Acl PowerShell cmdlet to list all ACLs on the Epic Games Launcher folder. Run 'icacls "C:\Program Files\Epic Games\Launcher" /T' (adjust path as needed) to see permissions recursively.
    Affected if The folder grants Write or Write+Execute permissions to the Everyone group, Users group, or other non-privileged accounts.
  4. Verify world-writable or weak ACL configuration
    Examine the ACL output for entries indicating broad access. Look for (F) Full Control, (M) Modify, or (W) Write permissions assigned to BUILTIN\Users, Users, or Everyone SID. Check if the folder inherits weak permissions from parent directories.
    Affected if Non-administrator users have Modify, Write, or Full Control access to the folder containing executable files.
  5. Confirm executable content exists in the weak-permission folder
    List executable files (.exe, .dll, .bat, .ps1) within the folder with weak permissions. Verify that high-privileged services or processes execute binaries from this location.
    Affected if The folder with weak permissions contains executable files that are launched by SYSTEM-level processes.

You are affected if Epic Games Launcher version 16.6.0-33806133 is installed and the installation folder grants Write or Modify permissions to non-administrator users, allowing privilege escalation via executable injection.

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

Apply correct NTFS permissions to the affected folder (restrict to Administrators/SYSTEM only), or reinstall/update Epic Games Launcher to obtain corrected default permissions. Identify and audit the vulnerable folder using access enumeration tools.

Fix this in Launcher Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
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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-2024-11872 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
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