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

CVE-2024-9493

HIGH · 8.6 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-01-24
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
89/100
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
DLL hijacking vulnerabilities, caused by an uncontrolled search path in the  ToolStick installer can lead to privilege escalation and arbitrary code execution when running the impacted installer.

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

DLL hijacking vulnerability in the ToolStick installer caused by an uncontrolled search path allows the installer to load malicious DLLs from attacker-controlled locations, leading to privilege escalation and arbitrary code execution when the installer runs.

MitigationRun the installer from a secure, trusted directory with restricted permissions and verify no malicious DLLs exist in the search path; obtain and deploy a vendor patch that implements explicit DLL paths or manifest-based DLL redirection.

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
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/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 ToolStick installation
    Search for ToolStick-related executables or registry entries. Check common installation paths such as C:\Program Files\Texas Instruments\ToolStick or look for 'ToolStick' in Add/Remove Programs.
    Affected if ToolStick installer or related software is present on the system
  2. Determine ToolStick version
    Right-click the ToolStick installer executable (commonly named ToolStick.exe or similar) and select Properties, then check the Details tab for the version number. Alternatively, check the version in Add/Remove Programs if the software is already installed.
    Affected if Installed version matches or falls within the affected version range of the ToolStick installer (any unpatched version)
  3. Check installer location security
    Examine the directory from which the installer is being run or was previously executed. Verify that the directory is not on a network share, temp folder, or user-writable location. Right-click the folder, go to Properties > Security to confirm restricted permissions.
    Affected if Installer is run from a directory with weak ACLs or is located in a world-writable location such as %TEMP% or a network share
  4. Inspect DLL search path for malicious DLLs
    Use Process Monitor or similar tooling to capture DLL loads when the ToolStick installer runs. Alternatively, manually check directories in the Windows DLL search order (installer directory, current directory, System32, Windows directory, PATH) for unexpected or suspicious DLL files with names matching common DLLs (e.g., user32.dll, version.dll, etc.) placed alongside the installer.
    Affected if Unexpected DLL files exist in the installer directory or any directory in the DLL search path

A system is affected if the ToolStick installer is present and can be run from a directory where an attacker could place malicious DLLs, or if suspicious DLLs are found in directories the installer searches for DLLs.

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

Run the installer from a secure, trusted directory with restricted permissions and verify no malicious DLLs exist in the search path; obtain and deploy a vendor patch that implements explicit DLL paths or manifest-based DLL redirection.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-9493 — 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-2024-9493 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