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Client SecurityApplication · Withsecure

CVE-2024-4454

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-05-22
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges

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
WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection Link Following Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows local attackers to escalate privileges on affected installations of WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection. User interaction on the part of an administrator is required to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the WithSecure plugin hosting service. By creating a symbolic link, an attacker can abuse the service to create a file. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to escalate privileges and execute arbitrary code in the context of SYSTEM. Was ZDI-CAN-23035.

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

A symbolic link following vulnerability in the WithSecure plugin hosting service allows local attackers to escalate privileges to SYSTEM. An attacker creates a malicious symlink that the service follows to create an arbitrary file, enabling code execution in SYSTEM context. User interaction from an administrator is required to trigger the attack.

MitigationApply the vendor-provided security patch for WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection. Limit administrative privileges and monitor for suspicious symbolic link creation in plugin directories.

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
Client SecurityApplication
Affected:= 15
Elements Endpoint ProtectionApplication
Affected:= 17
Email And Server SecurityApplication
Affected:= 15
Server SecurityApplication
Affected:= 15

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
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/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. Identify installed WithSecure product
    Check installed programs list or registry for WithSecure Client Security, WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection, WithSecure Email And Server Security, or WithSecure Server Security
    Affected if Any of these four WithSecure products are installed
  2. Determine installed version
    Use the product's built-in version check, about dialog, or check the relevant registry key for the installed version number
    Affected if Version equals 15 for Client Security, Email And Server Security, or Server Security; or version equals 17 for Elements Endpoint Protection
  3. Verify plugin hosting service status
    Check if the WithSecure plugin hosting service is running and enabled. This can be done via services.msc or the command 'sc query' for the relevant service
    Affected if The plugin hosting service is installed and running
  4. Inspect plugin directories for suspicious symlinks
    Locate the plugin directories used by the WithSecure service and examine them for any symbolic links that were not created by the software
    Affected if Unexpected or newly created symbolic links exist in plugin directories requiring administrator action to trigger

You are affected if you have WithSecure Client Security version 15, WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection version 17, WithSecure Email And Server Security version 15, or WithSecure Server Security version 15, and the plugin hosting service is active and could be exploited via administrator interaction with a malicious symlink.

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 the vendor-provided security patch for WithSecure Elements Endpoint Protection. Limit administrative privileges and monitor for suspicious symbolic link creation in plugin directories.

Fix this in Client Security Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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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-2024-4454 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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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