CVE-2024-12754
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 · uneditedAnyDesk Link Following Information Disclosure Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows local attackers to disclose sensitive information on affected installations of AnyDesk. 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 handling of background images. By creating a junction, an attacker can abuse the service to read arbitrary files. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to disclose stored credentials, leading to further compromise. Was ZDI-CAN-23940.
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 confidenceA local information disclosure vulnerability in AnyDesk where an attacker with low-privileged code execution can create a Windows junction (symbolic link) to manipulate how the software handles background images, allowing the service to be tricked into reading arbitrary files including stored credentials.
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= 8.0.9CVSS 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
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed AnyDesk versionOpen Windows Settings > Apps > Apps & Features, locate AnyDesk, and verify the version number displayed. Alternatively, open AnyDesk and check About/Connection Info or run 'anydesk.exe --version' from the installation directory.Affected if Version shown is exactly 8.0.9 (this is the single confirmed affected version)
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Verify AnyDesk service is runningOpen Services (services.msc), locate the 'AnyDesk' service, and confirm the Status is 'Running'. The vulnerability exploits how the service handles background images.Affected if AnyDesk service is installed and running on a version 8.0.9 installation
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Inspect AnyDesk directories for junction pointsOpen Command Prompt as administrator, navigate to the AnyDesk installation directory (commonly C:\Program Files (x86)\AnyDesk or C:\Program Files\AnyDesk), and run 'dir /AL /S' to list alternate data streams and junction points.Affected if Junction points exist pointing to directories outside the normal AnyDesk installation path
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Check for suspicious background image symlinksIn the AnyDesk installation directory, examine subfolders (especially any folder related to 'background', 'adwall', or 'theme') for symbolic links or junctions using 'mklink /J' or checking with 'reparsepoint' information.Affected if Junction or symbolic link targets a location containing user files or system directories outside the AnyDesk folder
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Review AnyDesk logs for unauthorized file accessLocate AnyDesk logs in the installation directory or %APPDATA%\AnyDesk, open recent log files, and search for entries indicating unexpected file read operations.Affected if Logs show AnyDesk attempting to read files from unexpected paths or showing access denied errors to arbitrary system files
You are affected if AnyDesk version 8.0.9 is installed and the service is running, with any junction points or symbolic links present in AnyDesk directories that could redirect background image handling to access arbitrary files.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataUpdate AnyDesk to the latest version with vendor security patches. Restrict local user privileges and monitor for suspicious junction/symbolic link creation in AnyDesk directories.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-12754 — 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 sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2024-12754 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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