CVE-2025-43026
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 · uneditedA potential security vulnerability has been identified in the HP Support Assistant for versions prior to 9.44.18.0. The vulnerability could potentially allow a local attacker to escalate privileges via an arbitrary file write.
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 confidenceA local privilege escalation vulnerability in HP Support Assistant (versions prior to 9.44.18.0) allows an attacker with local system access to write arbitrary files, potentially overwriting sensitive system files or executing code with elevated privileges.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data< 9.44.18.0CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed HP Support Assistant versionOpen Programs and Features (appwiz.cpl) or the HP Support Assistant application and locate the version number displayed in the installed program details or the application's About/Help sectionAffected if The displayed version number is lower than 9.44.18.0 (for example, 9.44.17.0, 9.43.x, or earlier)
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Check version via Windows RegistryOpen Registry Editor and navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{GUID} or HKLM\SOFTWARE\HP\SupportAssistant, then locate the DisplayVersion or Version valueAffected if The registry shows a version value less than 9.44.18.0
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Verify application executable version directlyLocate the HP Support Assistant executable (typically in C:\Program Files\HP\Support Assistant or C:\Program Files (x86)\HP\Support Assistant), right-click the executable, select Properties, and view the File Version on the Details tabAffected if The File Version shown is below 9.44.18.0
If any installed instance of HP Support Assistant shows a version lower than 9.44.18.0, the environment is vulnerable to local privilege escalation via arbitrary file write.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped9.44.18.0
Upgrade HP Support Assistant to version 9.44.18.0 or later to remediate the vulnerability.
9.44.18.0
- Close HP Support Assistant if it is currently running
- Navigate to the official HP support website (support.hp.com)
- Search for HP Support Assistant version 9.44.18.0 or latest available version
- Download the installer for the updated version
- Run the downloaded installer with appropriate user privileges
- Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the installation
- Verify the installed version matches 9.44.18.0 or later
- Restart the system if prompted to ensure changes take effect
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-43026 — 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 sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-43026 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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