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Link Following (Symlink)Weakness · CWE-59

CVE-2024-13944

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-05-09
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
Link Following Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability in NortonUtilitiesSvc in Norton Utilities Ultimate Version 24.2.16862.6344 on Windows 10 Pro x64 allows local attackers to escalate privileges and execute arbitrary code in the context of SYSTEM via the creation of a symbolic link and leveraging a TOCTTOU (time-of-check to time-of-use) attack.

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

NortonUtilitiesSvc in Norton Utilities Ultimate versions prior to the fix contains a link following vulnerability combined with a TOCTTOU race condition. A local attacker can create a symbolic link to manipulate file operations, exploiting the time gap between security checks and file usage to escalate privileges to SYSTEM level and execute arbitrary code.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied patches for Norton Utilities Ultimate. Until patches are available, restrict local user access to the service's working directories and monitor for symbolic link creation in sensitive paths.

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. Check if Norton Utilities Ultimate is installed
    Look for Norton Utilities Ultimate in Programs and Features (appwiz.cpl) or check for installation directory at C:\Program Files\Norton Utilities Ultimate or C:\Program Files (x86)\Norton Utilities Ultimate. Also check for NortonUtilitiesSvc.exe in the installation path.
    Affected if Norton Utilities Ultimate is installed and the version is earlier than the vendor fixed version
  2. Identify installed version of Norton Utilities Ultimate
    Right-click the application in Programs and Features and select 'Change' or 'Properties', or check the version info of NortonUtilitiesSvc.exe in the installation folder by right-clicking the file and viewing Details.
    Affected if Version cannot be determined or is earlier than the patched version
  3. Verify NortonUtilitiesSvc is running
    Open Services (services.msc), locate 'NortonUtilitiesSvc' or 'Norton Utilities Service', and check its Status. Alternatively, run 'sc query NortonUtilitiesSvc' or check Task Manager for NortonUtilitiesSvc.exe.
    Affected if The NortonUtilitiesSvc is running as a service
  4. Inspect service working directory permissions
    Locate the working directory used by NortonUtilitiesSvc (check via 'sc qc NortonUtilitiesSvc' for binary path, or use Process Explorer to view the process command line). Examine NTFS permissions on that directory and subdirectories.
    Affected if Non-privileged users have write permissions to service working directories where symbolic links could be created
  5. Detect symbolic links in service-sensitive paths
    Use 'fsutil reparsepoint query <path>' on suspected target directories, or search for .symlink files. Monitor with Sysinternals Process Monitor for symbolic link creation operations (Operation: CreateSymbolicLink) targeting paths under the Norton Utilities installation or temp directories.
    Affected if Symbolic links exist or are being created in directories used by the NortonUtilitiesSvc

A user is affected if Norton Utilities Ultimate is installed with a version prior to the fix AND the NortonUtilitiesSvc is running with writable directories accessible to non-privileged users, allowing potential symbolic link 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

Apply vendor-supplied patches for Norton Utilities Ultimate. Until patches are available, restrict local user access to the service's working directories and monitor for symbolic link creation in sensitive paths.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation24.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
52.0 hours of engineering $9,160
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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-2024-13944 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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What belongs here
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