CVE-2026-27105
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 · uneditedDell/Alienware Purchased Apps, versions prior to 1.1.31.0, contain an Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following') vulnerability. A low privileged attacker with local access could potentially exploit this vulnerability, leading to 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 · high confidenceThe Dell/Alienware Purchased Apps application fails to properly validate symbolic links before accessing files, allowing a low-privileged local attacker to create malicious symlinks that cause the application to write files to arbitrary locations on the filesystem.
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< 1.1.31.0CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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 if Dell/Alienware Purchased Apps is installedCheck Windows Registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall for an entry named 'Dell/Alienware Purchased Apps', or search Program Files folders (C:\Program Files\Dell or C:\Program Files\Alienware) for a 'Purchased Apps' directoryAffected if The application is not found in registry or program directories (not affected)
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Determine installed version numberLocate the main executable in the installed directory (typically named purchasedapps.exe, AlienwarePurchasedApps.exe, or similar) and retrieve its version via PowerShell: (Get-Item 'C:\Program Files\Dell\Alienware Purchased Apps\purchasedapps.exe').VersionInfo.FileVersion, or right-click the .exe file and view Properties > DetailsAffected if Version exists and is less than 1.1.31.0 (vulnerable)
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Check for symlink attack surface in application directoriesInspect directories where the application reads or writes files. Focus on user-writable folders the app accesses, such as %USERPROFILE%\Downloads, %TEMP%, or app data folders. Use 'cmd /c dir /a' to list contents and look for symbolic links (shown as <SYMLINK> or <SYMLINKD> in directory listings)Affected if Symlinks exist in directories the application uses for file operations (potential exploitation indicator)
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Verify file write operations to directories with weak permissionsUse Sysinternal's Process Monitor (procmon.exe) to monitor the application for file write operations. Filter by the application process name and look for CreateFile operations with Write access to locations outside the application's intended directoriesAffected if Application writes files to arbitrary paths controlled by symlinks (vulnerable behavior)
The environment is affected if Dell/Alienware Purchased Apps is installed with version below 1.1.31.0 and the application processes files from directories where unprivileged users can create symbolic links.
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 · scoped1.1.31.0
Upgrade to version 1.1.31.0 or later. If immediate patching is not possible, restrict write access to the application's directories and monitor for suspicious symlink creation.
1.1.31.0
- Upgrade Dell/Alienware Purchased Apps to version 1.1.31.0 or later
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation8.0 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-2026-27105 — 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-2026-27105 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
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