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

CVE-2025-36515

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v4.0 Published 2026-05-12
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
54/100
Remediation priority · Moderate

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 AI Playground software before version 3.0.0 alpha 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 · moderate confidence

AI Playground software before version 3.0.0 alpha has an uncontrolled search path vulnerability in Ring 3 user applications. An authenticated attacker with high complexity and active user interaction can potentially achieve privilege escalation by placing malicious DLLs or executables in locations where the vulnerable application loads resources from an insecure search path.

MitigationUpdate to version 3.0.0 alpha or later which implements secure search path handling. If updating is not immediately possible, ensure the application directory and working directories are not writable by unprivileged users.

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
Authentication
X
User interaction
A
Scope
X

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

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 AI Playground installation location
    Search for 'AI Playground' in program files directories (e.g., C:\Program Files\, C:\Program Files (x86)\, or custom installation paths). Look for executables named 'AI Playground', 'ai-playground', or similar. Also check for uninstall entries in Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
    Affected if AI Playground software is found installed on the system
  2. Determine installed version of AI Playground
    Right-click the executable file, select Properties, and check the Version tab. Alternatively, run the executable with a version flag (e.g., --version or -v) from command line, or check Add/Remove Programs for the installed version
    Affected if The version is lower than 3.0.0 alpha (e.g., 2.x.x, 1.x.x, or any version without the '3.0.0 alpha' designation)
  3. Check application directory write permissions
    Right-click the AI Playground installation folder, select Properties, go to the Security tab, and review write permissions for Users or authenticated users group. From command line, use 'icacls "<path_to_app_folder>"' to list permissions
    Affected if Users or authenticated users have Write or Modify permissions on the application directory
  4. Check working directory write permissions
    Identify the working directory (where the application is launched from or where it stores user data). Use 'icacls' or folder properties to check if standard users can write to this location. Check common locations like Documents, user profile folders, or application data folders
    Affected if Standard non-admin users have Write permissions to directories where AI Playground loads resources or stores data
  5. Inspect DLL search path behavior
    Use Process Monitor (procmon) from Sysinternals to monitor AI Playground at startup. Filter by Path including '.dll'. Observe which directories the application searches for DLLs and whether it loads from user-writable locations before system paths
    Affected if The application loads DLLs from user-writable directories or exhibits insecure DLL search order (current directory, application directory without safe DLL search mode)

A user is affected if AI Playground version is below 3.0.0 alpha AND standard users can write to directories where the application loads resources from an insecure search path, allowing 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

Update to version 3.0.0 alpha or later which implements secure search path handling. If updating is not immediately possible, ensure the application directory and working directories are not writable by unprivileged users.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Intel AI Playground 3.0.0 alpha

  1. 1. Verify the current installed version of Intel AI Playground software
  2. 2. Download Intel AI Playground version 3.0.0 alpha or later from the official Intel website or Intel support channels
  3. 3. Ensure all running instances of AI Playground are closed before upgrading
  4. 4. Install version 3.0.0 alpha following standard installation procedures
  5. 5. Restart the application after installation to ensure the updated components are loaded
Caveat As this is an alpha release, there may be new features or changes in behavior compared to previous versions; review release notes for any compatibility considerations

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,800
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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-2025-36515 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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