CVE-2024-52535
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 · uneditedDell SupportAssist for Home PCs versions 4.6.1 and prior and Dell SupportAssist for Business PCs versions 4.5.0 and prior, contain a symbolic link (symlink) attack vulnerability in the software remediation component. A low-privileged authenticated user could potentially exploit this vulnerability, gaining privileges escalation, leading to arbitrary deletion of files and folders from the system.
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 confidenceDell SupportAssist contains a symlink attack vulnerability in its software remediation component. A low-privileged authenticated user can exploit this by creating symbolic links that the remediation process follows, allowing privilege escalation to higher permissions and arbitrary deletion of system files and folders.
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< 4.5.1< 4.6.2CVSS 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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify Dell SupportAssist installationCheck for Dell SupportAssist in installed programs (Programs and Features on Windows, or look for SupportAssist executables in Program Files)Affected if Dell SupportAssist is present on the system
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Determine installed versionLocate SupportAssist application or executable, right-click to view Properties, or run 'Get-ItemProperty' on the installation directory to find version informationAffected if Version is below 4.5.1 for Business PCs or below 4.6.2 for Home PCs
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Confirm software remediation component is accessibleCheck if low-privileged (non-admin) users can access or trigger the software remediation/repair functionality within SupportAssistAffected if Software remediation feature is accessible to standard user accounts without admin rights
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Audit remediation-related directories for symlinksExamine SupportAssist working directories and remediation folders for newly created symbolic links (look for files with type 'symbolic link' or use 'fsutil behavior query symlinkevaluation' to check symlink status)Affected if Unexpected symbolic links exist in SupportAssist data or temp directories
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Review for unauthorized file deletion eventsCheck Windows Event Logs (Security and Application logs) for deletion events or permission changes that occurred during SupportAssist remediation operations performed by low-privilege usersAffected if File deletion or permission modification events correlate with non-admin user remediation sessions
You are affected if Dell SupportAssist is installed with a version below 4.5.1 (Business) or 4.6.2 (Home) AND low-privileged users can access the software remediation feature, allowing them to create symlinks that the application follows.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped4.5.14.6.2
Apply vendor-supplied patches from Dell for SupportAssist for Home PCs (version 4.6.2+) and SupportAssist for Business PCs (version 4.5.1+) to address the symlink vulnerability in the software remediation component.
Dell SupportAssist for Home PCs: >= 4.6.2 | Dell SupportAssist for Business PCs: >= 4.5.1
- 1. Determine which Dell SupportAssist product is installed (Home PCs or Business PCs)
- 2. For Dell SupportAssist for Home PCs: Download and install version 4.6.2 or later from Dell's official support website
- 3. For Dell SupportAssist for Business PCs: Download and install version 4.5.1 or later from Dell's official support website
- 4. After upgrade, verify the installed version matches or exceeds the fixed release
- 5. Restart the system if prompted to complete the installation
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-52535 — 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 sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2024-52535 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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