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

CVE-2025-22838

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-08-12
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
Uncontrolled search path for some Intel(R) RealSense(TM) Dynamic Calibrator software before version 2.14.2.0 may allow an authenticated user to potentially enable escalation of privilege via local access.

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

Intel RealSense Dynamic Calibrator software before version 2.14.2.0 contains an uncontrolled search path vulnerability where the application loads DLLs from locations that an authenticated local user can control. By placing a malicious DLL in a searched directory, an attacker can achieve privilege escalation.

MitigationUpgrade Intel RealSense Dynamic Calibrator to version 2.14.2.0 or later to resolve the uncontrolled search path vulnerability.

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. Check if Intel RealSense Dynamic Calibrator is installed
    Open Windows Registry Editor and navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall or HKLM\SOFTWARE\Intel\RealSense\DynamicCalibrator, or check Program Files for folders containing 'RealSense' and 'DynamicCalibrator'
    Affected if The software is present on the system
  2. Determine the installed version number
    Right-click the Dynamic Calibrator executable, select Properties, then view the Details tab for Product Version, or check the Uninstall registry entry for DisplayVersion
    Affected if A version number is found that is below 2.14.2.0
  3. Compare version to the affected range
    If version is found, compare it numerically to 2.14.2.0. For example, 2.14.1.0 or 2.12.5.0 would be older versions
    Affected if Installed version is lower than 2.14.2.0 (e.g., 2.14.1.0, 2.13.0.0, etc.)
  4. Verify the application runs with elevated privileges
    Check if the Dynamic Calibrator is configured to run as a scheduled task with SYSTEM privileges, or runs with 'Run as administrator' enabled, by reviewing Task Scheduler or the application shortcut properties
    Affected if The application runs with elevated privileges and the version is below 2.14.2.0

User is affected if Intel RealSense Dynamic Calibrator is installed with a version lower than 2.14.2.0 and runs with elevated privileges, allowing a local authenticated attacker to perform DLL hijacking for privilege escalation.

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

Upgrade Intel RealSense Dynamic Calibrator to version 2.14.2.0 or later to resolve the uncontrolled search path vulnerability.

Recommended fix High confidence

2.14.2.0

  1. Check the currently installed version of Intel(R) RealSense(TM) Dynamic Calibrator software
  2. Download Intel RealSense Dynamic Calibrator version 2.14.2.0 or later from the official Intel website or support channel
  3. Install or upgrade to the downloaded version following Intel's standard installation procedures
  4. Verify that the installed version is 2.14.2.0 or later to confirm the update was applied successfully

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-22838 — 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-2025-22838 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
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