Code InjectionWeakness · CWE-94

CVE-2024-44744

MEDIUM · 5.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-10-01
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
No privileges 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
An issue in Malwarebytes Premium Security v5.0.0.883 allows attackers to execute arbitrary code via placing crafted binaries into unspecified directories. NOTE: Malwarebytes argues that this issue requires admin privileges and that the contents cannot be altered by non-admin users.

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

Malwarebytes Premium Security v5.0.0.883 is vulnerable to binary planting/DLL hijacking, allowing attackers with administrative privileges to place crafted malicious binaries in unspecified directories that the application subsequently loads and executes, leading to arbitrary code execution in the context of the application.

MitigationApply vendor-provided security update when available; restrict administrative access to systems running this software; monitor for suspicious binary placement in 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
Physical
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
Low
Availability
Low

CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:L

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 Malwarebytes Premium Security version
    Open Malwarebytes, go to Settings > About, or right-click the system tray icon and select 'About Malwarebytes' to display the installed version number
    Affected if Version displayed is 5.0.0.883 exactly (no later patch applied)
  2. Identify application installation directory
    Open Task Manager, locate a Malwarebytes process (e.g., MBAMService.exe), right-click and select 'Open file location' to find the installation path
    Affected if Malwarebytes is installed in a directory writable by standard users with admin-level attackers able to place files there
  3. Check for unauthorized binaries in application directories
    Use File Explorer or command line (dir /s /b *.exe *.dll) to list all executables and DLLs in the Malwarebytes installation folder, compare against known legitimate Malwarebytes files
    Affected if Unexpected .exe or .dll files are present that are not part of a standard Malwarebytes installation
  4. Review application directory permissions
    Right-click the Malwarebytes installation folder in File Explorer, go to Properties > Security, and check which users/groups have Write or Modify permissions
    Affected if Non-admin users or groups have Write permissions to application directories where binaries could be planted
  5. Audit recent administrative account activity
    Review Windows Event Viewer (Security logs) for Event ID 4624/4625 to identify administrative accounts that logged in from unexpected sources or at unusual times
    Affected if Administrative accounts with access to the system show suspicious login activity indicating potential compromise

Environment is affected if Malwarebytes Premium Security version 5.0.0.883 is installed and application directories allow write access from accounts that could be compromised by attackers.

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-provided security update when available; restrict administrative access to systems running this software; monitor for suspicious binary placement in application directories.

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

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-44744 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2024-44744 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data