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

CVE-2026-34488

HIGH · 7.3 CVSS v3.0 Published 2026-04-23
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
73/100
Remediation priority · Elevated

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
IP Setting Software contains an issue with the DLL search path, which may lead to insecurely loading Dynamic Link Libraries. As a result, arbitrary code may be executed with administrative privileges.

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

IP Setting Software is vulnerable to DLL hijacking due to insecure DLL search path handling. An attacker can place a malicious DLL in a location from which the application loads DLLs, causing arbitrary code execution with administrative privileges when the software runs.

MitigationThe vendor should update the software to use secure DLL loading mechanisms (e.g., SetDllDirectory, LoadLibraryEx with LOAD_LIBRARY_SEARCH flags, or specifying full absolute paths for all DLLs). Until a patch is available, ensure the application runs from a controlled directory and monitor for unauthorized DLL placement.

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
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify IP Setting Software installation
    Search the system for executables related to IP address configuration or network settings, such as ipsetting.exe, ipconfig.exe alternatives, or software from network utility vendors. Check Program Files, Program Files (x86), and any custom installation directories.
    Affected if Any executable named or related to 'IP Setting Software' is found on the system
  2. Verify DLL search path vulnerability
    Run the identified IP Setting Software executable while monitoring DLL loading behavior using Process Monitor (ProcMon) from Sysinternals. Filter for the process and look for DLL load attempts where the path is not fully qualified or uses relative paths.
    Affected if The application loads DLLs from directories in the search order that are writable by standard users (current directory, application directory, system directories not secured)
  3. Check for unsafe DLL locations
    Examine the installation directory of the IP Setting Software. Verify if the directory is writable by non-admin users or if there are any untrusted directories in the DLL search path.
    Affected if The application directory or any directory in its DLL search path allows write access to unprivileged users
  4. Detect potentially malicious DLLs
    Use file system auditing or integrity monitoring tools to check for newly created DLL files in the application's directory or directories in its DLL search path. Look for unexpected DLLs that may have been placed by an attacker.
    Affected if Unexpected or unknown DLL files are present in the application's working directory or load paths

A system is affected if IP Setting Software is installed and runs with elevated privileges while loading DLLs from unprotected directories accessible to unprivileged users.

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 vendor should update the software to use secure DLL loading mechanisms (e.g., SetDllDirectory, LoadLibraryEx with LOAD_LIBRARY_SEARCH flags, or specifying full absolute paths for all DLLs). Until a patch is available, ensure the application runs from a controlled directory and monitor for unauthorized DLL placement.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
21.0 hours of engineering $3,680
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2026-34488 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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