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

CVE-2024-9496

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 USBXpress Dev Kit 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

The USBXpress Dev Kit installer contains a DLL hijacking vulnerability due to an uncontrolled search path. When the installer runs, it may load DLLs from locations that an attacker can control or influence, allowing the attacker to inject malicious code that executes with the privileges of the installer (often elevated). This can lead to privilege escalation and arbitrary code execution on the target system.

MitigationAvoid running the USBXpress Dev Kit installer from untrusted or shared network locations; ensure the working directory is trusted and contains no untrusted DLLs. Contact the vendor (Silicon Labs) for a patched installer version and audit systems where this installer has been used.

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. Check if USBXpress Dev Kit is installed
    Look for the USBXpress Dev Kit installation directory in common locations such as C:\Program Files\Silicon Labs\USBXpress Dev Kit or C:\Program Files (x86)\Silicon Labs\USBXpress Dev Kit. Also check the Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall for entries containing 'USBXpress' or 'Silicon Labs'.
    Affected if The product is installed on the system.
  2. Locate the USBXpress installer executable
    Search for USBXpress installer files such as USBXpress_Dev_Kit.exe, setup.exe, or similar installers in the system. Use: Get-ChildItem -Path C:\ -Recurse -Filter "*USBXpress*" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue or check the installation directory found in step 1.
    Affected if The installer executable exists on the system, indicating the vulnerable software is present.
  3. Inspect the directory from which the installer was last run
    Check the Windows Shortcut or recent installation history for the USBXpress installer. Review the 'Start in' property of any desktop shortcuts or check recent entries in the Windows Installer log locations (C:\Windows\Temp or %TEMP%). Determine if the working directory was a network share or untrusted location.
    Affected if The installer was run from a network share, removable media, or a directory writable by other users.
  4. Search for unexpected DLLs in installer search paths
    Examine the USBXpress installation directory and any directories that were the working directory when the installer ran. Look for DLLs that are not part of the standard installation, particularly DLLs with names matching commonly hijacked DLLs (such as version.dll, dbghelp.dll, or crypt32.dll) that may have been placed by an attacker.
    Affected if Unexpected or suspicious DLLs are found in the installation directory or in directories where the installer was executed.

A user is affected if the USBXpress Dev Kit installer has been run on their system, particularly if it was executed from an untrusted directory or if suspicious DLLs exist in the installer search paths.

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

Avoid running the USBXpress Dev Kit installer from untrusted or shared network locations; ensure the working directory is trusted and contains no untrusted DLLs. Contact the vendor (Silicon Labs) for a patched installer version and audit systems where this installer has been used.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2024-9496 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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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