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

CVE-2024-49592

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-11-15
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
Trial installer for McAfee Total Protection (legacy trial installer software) 16.0.53 allows local privilege escalation because of an Uncontrolled Search Path Element. The attacker could be "an adversary or knowledgeable user" and the type of attack could be called "DLL-squatting." The issue only affects execution of this installer, and does not leave McAfee Total Protection in a vulnerable state after installation is completed. NOTE: This vulnerability only affects products that are no longer supported by the maintainer.

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

The McAfee Total Protection legacy trial installer (v16.0.53) is vulnerable to DLL-squatting via an uncontrolled search path element. An attacker with local access can place a malicious DLL in a directory searched by the installer (before the legitimate DLL location), causing the installer to load the attacker-controlled DLL and execute it with elevated privileges.

MitigationSince this product is End-of-Life and no longer supported, the primary mitigation is to avoid using the legacy trial installer entirely. If installation is absolutely required, ensure the system PATH and working directory are sanitized and contain no untrusted locations.

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. Identify installed McAfee Total Protection version
    Open Programs and Features in Control Panel or use 'Get-ItemProperty' in PowerShell for registry key HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* to find McAfee Total Protection and note the Version field
    Affected if The installed version is 16.0.53 (the legacy trial version) or if the legacy trial installer package exists on the system
  2. Locate the legacy trial installer executable
    Search for files named 'McAfeeTotalProtection.exe' or similar trial installer patterns in common download locations such as %USERPROFILE%\Downloads, %TEMP%, or custom installation directories
    Affected if A legacy trial installer executable (v16.0.53) is present on the system
  3. Inspect PATH environment variable directories
    Open System Properties > Environment Variables and review the PATH variable. List all directories in order, paying attention to those that appear before the legitimate McAfee installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\McAfee\)
    Affected if Any untrusted or user-writable directory (such as %TEMP%, %USERPROFILE%\Downloads, or current working directory) appears in PATH before the legitimate McAfee directory
  4. Check for unexpected DLLs in search path directories
    Examine DLL files in directories that appear earlier in the PATH than the McAfee installation directory. Compare file names against known legitimate McAfee DLLs
    Affected if Unknown or suspicious DLL files are present in directories that would be searched before the legitimate McAfee DLL location during installer execution

A user is affected if McAfee Total Protection version 16.0.53 (legacy trial) is installed or if the legacy trial installer exists on the system and the PATH or working directory contains untrusted directories that could be exploited for DLL-squatting.

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

Since this product is End-of-Life and no longer supported, the primary mitigation is to avoid using the legacy trial installer entirely. If installation is absolutely required, ensure the system PATH and working directory are sanitized and contain no untrusted locations.

Recommended fix High confidence
  1. This vulnerability affects McAfee Total Protection legacy trial installer version 16.0.53, which is no longer supported by McAfee.
  2. The vulnerability only exists during execution of the trial installer itself.
  3. The installed McAfee Total Protection product is NOT vulnerable after installation completes.
  4. No vendor patch or upgrade is available as the product has reached end-of-life.
  5. If running this legacy trial installer is required, ensure it is run in an isolated environment with limited user privileges to minimize potential impact.
  6. Consider migrating to currently supported McAfee security products if applicable.

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
2.0 hours of engineering $750
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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-2024-49592 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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