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

CVE-2026-30478

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-04-09
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
90/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
A Dynamic-link Library Injection vulnerability in GatewayGeo MapServer for Windows version 5 allows attackers to escalate privileges via a crafted executable.

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

This is a DLL Injection vulnerability in GatewayGeo MapServer for Windows version 5. Attackers can exploit this by placing a crafted malicious DLL file that the application will load, enabling privilege escalation. The vulnerability stems from insecure library loading where the application does not validate the path or integrity of dynamically linked libraries before loading them.

MitigationImplement secure DLL loading by using absolute paths, disabling DLL search path manipulation (e.g., using SetDllDirectory with an empty string), and validating DLL signatures before loading. Alternatively, consider upgrading to a patched version if available from the vendor.

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
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/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 if GatewayGeo MapServer v5 is installed
    Check for GatewayGeo MapServer executable or service on the system. Look in common installation directories (C:\Program Files\, C:\Program Files (x86)\) and check Windows Services for a MapServer service.
    Affected if GatewayGeo MapServer for Windows v5 is found installed on the system
  2. Determine the privilege level of the MapServer process
    Open Services, locate the MapServer service, right-click and select Properties, then check the 'Log On' account. Alternatively, run Process Explorer or Task Manager to view the process account.
    Affected if The service runs under LocalSystem, a service account, or any account with privileges higher than standard users
  3. Inspect file system permissions on the application directory
    Right-click the GatewayGeo MapServer installation folder, select Properties, go to the Security tab, and check which users have Write or Modify permissions.
    Affected if Non-admin users orauthenticated users have Write or Modify permissions to directories from which the application loads DLLs
  4. Check DLL search order behavior
    Use Process Monitor (from Sysinternals) to capture DLL load events for the MapServer process. Filter by Operation equals 'CreateFile' with Result containing 'SUCCESS' and Path ending in '.dll'. Look for DLLs loaded from user-writable directories like the application directory or temp folders.
    Affected if The application loads DLLs from the application directory, current working directory, or temp folders that are writable by non-privileged users
  5. Verify if DLLs are loaded from insecure paths
    Review the MapServer application configuration files (check for .config files in the installation folder) and examine the PATH environment variable for the process. Look for any paths that allow user writable locations.
    Affected if The application executable directory or any user-writable path appears in the DLL search order before system directories

A system is affected if GatewayGeo MapServer v5 is installed and runs with elevated privileges while loading DLLs from directories writable by lower-privileged users, allowing potential DLL injection and 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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Implement secure DLL loading by using absolute paths, disabling DLL search path manipulation (e.g., using SetDllDirectory with an empty string), and validating DLL signatures before loading. Alternatively, consider upgrading to a patched version if available from the vendor.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2026-30478 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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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