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

CVE-2026-11879

HIGH · 8.5 CVSS v4.0 Published 2026-06-12
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
87/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click

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
MobaXterm Personal Edition (Portable), in its 26.3 version (Build 5154), allows arbitrary code execution by loading malicious DLLs from a temporary directory that is predictable and can be modified by the user. During startup, the application searches for specific DLLs in this location before resorting to the system’s secure paths, enabling an attacker with local access to place a specially crafted DLL to be executed automatically when the victim launches the application.

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

MobaXterm Personal Edition Portable version 26.3 (Build 5154) contains a DLL planting vulnerability where the application loads DLLs from a user-writable predictable temporary directory before checking system paths. An attacker with local access can place a specially crafted malicious DLL in this location, achieving arbitrary code execution when the victim launches the application.

MitigationThe primary remediation is to modify the application to load DLLs only from secure system directories (System32, application directory) using full explicit paths, and to remove or secure the temporary directory from user modification. Implementing DLL search order hardening and code signing verification would further harden the application.

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
Low
Authentication
X
User interaction
None
Scope
X

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/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 MobaXterm installation and version
    Locate the MobaXterm executable (commonly in C:\Program Files\MobaXterm\ or the portable extraction folder). Right-click the executable, select Properties, and examine the Details tab for the version number and build number.
    Affected if The version shows 26.3 with Build 5154 (or any version within the 26.3 release line).
  2. Confirm it is the Portable edition
    Check if the MobaXterm folder contains a Portable.txt file or if the application runs directly from a user-chosen directory without requiring installation. Portable versions typically run from USB drives or custom folders.
    Affected if The application is the Portable edition (not the installed version).
  3. Check for predictable temporary directory usage
    Run MobaXterm while monitoring DLL loading using Process Monitor (procmon.exe) from Sysinternals. Filter by the MobaXterm process and look for DLL load attempts from paths containing 'Temp', 'Tmp', or '%TEMP%'.
    Affected if The application attempts to load DLLs from a user-writable temporary folder (e.g., %TEMP%\ or a subdirectory within it) before system directories.
  4. Verify the temporary directory is user-writable
    Check the permissions on the temporary directory used by MobaXterm (typically %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Temp or %TEMP%). Right-click the folder, select Properties, then Security, to confirm standard users can write files there.
    Affected if The temporary directory allows standard user accounts to create or modify files.
  5. Confirm local attacker scenario applies
    Evaluate whether untrusted local users or actors have physical access or logon access to the machine where MobaXterm is installed. DLL planting requires the attacker to place a file in the temporary directory before MobaXterm launches.
    Affected if The system allows local users or physically present attackers to write to the temporary directory before MobaXterm starts.

You are affected if MobaXterm Personal Edition Portable version 26.3 (Build 5154) is installed and the application loads DLLs from a user-writable temporary directory before checking secure system 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

The primary remediation is to modify the application to load DLLs only from secure system directories (System32, application directory) using full explicit paths, and to remove or secure the temporary directory from user modification. Implementing DLL search order hardening and code signing verification would further harden the application.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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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-2026-11879 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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