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AntimalwareApplication · Malwarebytes

CVE-2024-6260

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-11-22
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Malwarebytes Antimalware Link Following Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows local attackers to escalate privileges on affected installations of Malwarebytes Antimalware. An attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the Malwarebytes service. By creating a symbolic link, an attacker can abuse the service to delete a file. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to escalate privileges and execute arbitrary code in the context of SYSTEM. Was ZDI-CAN-22321.

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 a link following vulnerability in Malwarebytes Antimalware service that allows a local attacker with low-privileged code execution to manipulate the service into deleting arbitrary files via symbolic link abuse, leading to privilege escalation to SYSTEM context.

MitigationApply the vendor patch or update Malwarebytes Antimalware to the latest version that addresses this vulnerability.

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
AntimalwareApplication
Affected:= 4.6.6

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify Malwarebytes Antimalware is installed
    Check for the presence of Malwarebytes installation by looking for the executable at common paths such as C:\Program Files\Malwarebytes\Anti-Malware\mbam.exe or check in Programs and Features
    Affected if Malwarebytes Antimalware is not installed on the system
  2. Identify installed version
    Right-click mbam.exe in the installation directory, select Properties, and view the Product Version in the Details tab, or run 'wmic product get name,version' to list installed software versions
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 4.6.6
  3. Confirm Malwarebytes service is present and running
    Open Services console (services.msc) and look for the Malwarebytes Service or related service entry, or run 'sc query' to enumerate services
    Affected if The Malwarebytes service exists and is running on the system
  4. Check for symbolic link vulnerability conditions
    Review the service configuration using 'sc qc' on the Malwarebytes service name to examine the binary path and service type, noting that the vulnerability requires the service to have write access to locations where it creates temporary files
    Affected if The service runs with elevated privileges and has file operation permissions that could be manipulated via symlinks

A system is affected if Malwarebytes Antimalware version 4.6.6 is installed and the service is running, as the vulnerability exploits the service's privileged file operations through symbolic link abuse.

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

Apply the vendor patch or update Malwarebytes Antimalware to the latest version that addresses this vulnerability.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Latest available Malwarebytes Antimalware release (version > 4.6.6)

  1. Check the current Malwarebytes version by running 'Get-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Malwarebytes" | Select-Object DisplayVersion' or opening Malwarebytes and going to Settings > About
  2. Navigate to www.malwarebytes.com support or downloads section to obtain the latest version
  3. Download and install the most recent Malwarebytes Anti-malware version
  4. Restart the system to ensure the service runs with the updated version
  5. Verify the fix by confirming the installed version is higher than 4.6.6 and the symbolic link attack no longer succeeds

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

Fix this in Antimalware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,040
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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-2024-6260 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