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

CVE-2025-35972

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-11-11
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 the Intel MPI Library before version 2021.16 within Ring 3: User Applications may allow an escalation of privilege. Unprivileged software adversary with an authenticated user combined with a high complexity attack may enable escalation of privilege. This result may potentially occur via local access when attack requirements are present without special internal knowledge and requires active user interaction. The potential vulnerability may impact the confidentiality (high), integrity (high) and availability (high) of the vulnerable system, resulting in subsequent system confidentiality (none), integrity (none) and availability (none) impacts.

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 MPI Library before version 2021.16 contains an uncontrolled search path vulnerability (DLL/library hijacking) that allows an authenticated, local attacker with high complexity and active user interaction to load a malicious library, potentially achieving privilege escalation. The vulnerability exists in Ring 3 user applications.

MitigationUpgrade Intel MPI Library to version 2021.16 or later. Additionally, ensure secure file permissions on directories in the library search path to prevent unauthorized library placement.

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. Identify Intel MPI Library installation
    Search for mpi library files in common installation directories such as C:\Program Files\Intel\ on Windows or /opt/intel/ on Linux, or check for mpi.dll, impi.dll, or mpirun executable
    Affected if Intel MPI Library is not found on the system, then the vulnerability does not apply
  2. Determine installed version
    Run the command 'mpirun --version' or 'mpivars.bat -version' if available, or right-click on the main library DLL file and view Properties > Details for the version number
    Affected if The version cannot be determined or is earlier than 2021.16
  3. Compare version to affected range
    Compare the installed version number to version 2021.16 - any version before 2021.16 is affected
    Affected if Installed version is any release before 2021.16 (for example 2021.14, 2021.12, 2021.10, etc.)
  4. Assess library search path accessibility
    Examine directory permissions on folders where Intel MPI Library is installed and any directories in the library search path, checking that unauthorized users cannot write files to these locations
    Affected if Directories in the library search path allow write access to untrusted users, enabling DLL/library hijacking

The system is affected if Intel MPI Library is installed with a version earlier than 2021.16 and directories in its search path have weak permissions allowing an attacker to place a malicious library.

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 MPI Library to version 2021.16 or later. Additionally, ensure secure file permissions on directories in the library search path to prevent unauthorized library placement.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

2021.16

  1. Identify the currently installed Intel MPI Library version using 'mpirun --version' or checking the installation directory
  2. Download Intel MPI Library version 2021.16 or later from the official Intel download center or through your Intel subscription
  3. Uninstall the current version of Intel MPI Library if upgrading via a fresh install, or run the installer for the new version to update in-place
  4. Verify the installation was successful by checking the version shows 2021.16 or later
  5. Ensure the MPI library binaries are located in a trusted directory with secure permissions to prevent DLL hijacking

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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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-2025-35972 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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