Uncontrolled Search Path (DLL Hijack)Weakness · CWE-427

CVE-2024-42405

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-02-12
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
67/100
Remediation priority · Elevated

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
Uncontrolled search path for some Intel(R) Quartus(R) Prime Software before version 23.1.1 Patch 1.01std may allow an authenticated user to potentially enable escalation of privilege via local access.

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

This is an uncontrolled search path (DLL/library hijacking) vulnerability in Intel Quartus Prime Software. An authenticated local attacker can place a malicious library in a directory that the application searches when loading dependencies, potentially causing the application to execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges. This requires local access and valid user credentials.

MitigationUpgrade to Intel Quartus Prime Software version 23.1.1 Patch 1.01std or later. As a compensating control, ensure the application runs from secure, non-writable directories and that user-writable directories are not included in the system PATH before the legitimate application directories.

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
High
Privileges
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/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. Verify Intel Quartus Prime installation
    Look for Quartus Prime in common installation directories such as C:\intelFPGA\ or C:\Program Files\Intel\, or check for the quartus.exe executable in the system.
    Affected if Intel Quartus Prime Software is found on the system.
  2. Determine installed Quartus Prime version
    Locate the quartus.exe file, right-click and view Properties, or run 'quartus.exe --version' from the installation directory to obtain the exact version number.
    Affected if The installed version is earlier than 23.1.1 Patch 1.01std.
  3. Identify the application directory and permissions
    Check the permissions on the Quartus Prime installation directory (e.g., the intelFPGA folder). Use Windows Explorer Properties > Security or icacls from command prompt to see if standard users have Write or Modify permissions.
    Affected if Non-admin users have Write or Modify permissions to the Quartus Prime installation directory or its subdirectories.
  4. Examine system PATH for user-writable directories
    Open System Properties > Environment Variables and review the PATH variable. Check each directory listed before the Quartus path for write access by standard users using icacls or file permissions.
    Affected if User-writable directories (such as temp folders, user profiles, or writable network shares) appear in the system or user PATH before the Quartus installation directory.
  5. Review DLL search order for the application
    Use Process Monitor or similar tooling to trace DLL loading when launching Quartus.exe. Alternatively, check if the application directory contains any relative path dependencies that could be satisfied by libraries in writable PATH directories.
    Affected if The application loads DLLs from directories that non-privileged users can modify.

The system is affected if Intel Quartus Prime version earlier than 23.1.1 Patch 1.01std is installed and either the application directory or any PATH directory searched before it is writable by standard users.

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

Upgrade to Intel Quartus Prime Software version 23.1.1 Patch 1.01std or later. As a compensating control, ensure the application runs from secure, non-writable directories and that user-writable directories are not included in the system PATH before the legitimate application directories.

Recommended fix High confidence

Intel Quartus Prime 23.1.1 Patch 1.01std or later

  1. Download Intel Quartus Prime version 23.1.1 Patch 1.01std or later from the official Intel website
  2. Uninstall the current version of Intel Quartus Prime software or verify the existing installation can accept the patch
  3. Install the downloaded fixed version (23.1.1 Patch 1.01std or later) following Intel's installation instructions
  4. Verify the installation completed successfully and the software runs without errors
  5. Confirm the DLL hijacking vulnerability is resolved by ensuring the software loads DLLs from trusted, controlled paths only
Caveat Patch releases are typically backward compatible; ensure any project files are backed up before uninstallation

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,060
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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-2024-42405 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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