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CWE-426 (不可信的搜索路径) — Vulnerability Class 194

194 vulnerabilities classified as CWE-426 (不可信的搜索路径). AI Chinese analysis included.

CWE-426 represents a critical input validation weakness where software relies on an externally-supplied search path to locate essential resources, such as executables or configuration files, rather than using absolute paths or trusted directories. Attackers typically exploit this vulnerability by manipulating the environment variable or system path to point to malicious code placed in a directory with higher precedence than the legitimate resource location. This allows them to execute arbitrary programs, access unauthorized data, or alter configurations unexpectedly, effectively achieving privilege escalation or remote code execution. To prevent this, developers must enforce strict path validation, utilize absolute paths for critical resources, and implement secure coding practices that restrict search directories to trusted, controlled locations. Additionally, applying the principle of least privilege ensures that even if an attacker manipulates the path, they cannot execute harmful code due to insufficient permissions.

MITRE CWE Description
The product searches for critical resources using an externally-supplied search path that can point to resources that are not under the product's direct control. This might allow attackers to execute their own programs, access unauthorized data files, or modify configuration in unexpected ways. If the product uses a search path to locate critical resources such as programs, then an attacker could modify that search path to point to a malicious program, which the targeted product would then execute. The problem extends to any type of critical resource that the product trusts. Some of the most common variants of untrusted search path are: In various UNIX and Linux-based systems, the PATH environment variable may be consulted to locate executable programs, and LD_PRELOAD may be used to locate a separate library. In various Microsoft-based systems, the PATH environment variable is consulted to locate a DLL, if the DLL is not found in other paths that appear earlier in the search order.
Common Consequences (3)
Integrity, Confidentiality, Availability, Access ControlGain Privileges or Assume Identity, Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands
There is the potential for arbitrary code execution with privileges of the vulnerable program.
AvailabilityDoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
The program could be redirected to the wrong files, potentially triggering a crash or hang when the targeted file is too large or does not have the expected format.
ConfidentialityRead Files or Directories
The program could send the output of unauthorized files to the attacker.
Mitigations (5)
Architecture and Design, ImplementationHard-code the search path to a set of known-safe values (such as system directories), or only allow them to be specified by the administrator in a configuration file. Do not allow these settings to be modified by an external party. Be careful to avoid related weaknesses such as CWE-426 and CWE-428.
ImplementationWhen invoking other programs, specify those programs using fully-qualified pathnames. While this is an effective approach, code that uses fully-qualified pathnames might not be portable to other systems that do not use the same pathnames. The portability can be improved by locating the full-qualified paths in a centralized, easily-modifiable location within the source code, and having the code ref…
ImplementationRemove or restrict all environment settings before invoking other programs. This includes the PATH environment variable, LD_LIBRARY_PATH, and other settings that identify the location of code libraries, and any application-specific search paths.
ImplementationCheck your search path before use and remove any elements that are likely to be unsafe, such as the current working directory or a temporary files directory.
ImplementationUse other functions that require explicit paths. Making use of any of the other readily available functions that require explicit paths is a safe way to avoid this problem. For example, system() in C does not require a full path since the shell can take care of it, while execl() and execv() require a full path.
Examples (2)
This program is intended to execute a command that lists the contents of a restricted directory, then performs other actions. Assume that it runs with setuid privileges in order to bypass the permissions check by the operating system.
#define DIR "/restricted/directory" char cmd[500]; sprintf(cmd, "ls -l %480s", DIR); /* Raise privileges to those needed for accessing DIR. */ RaisePrivileges(...); system(cmd); DropPrivileges(...); ...
Bad · C
The user sets the PATH to reference a directory under the attacker's control, such as "/my/dir/". The attacker creates a malicious program called "ls", and puts that program in /my/dir The user executes the program. When system() is executed, the shell consults the PATH to find the ls program The program finds the attacker's malicious program, "/my/dir/ls". It doesn't find "/bin/ls" because PATH does not contain "/bin/". The program executes the attacker's malicious program with the raised privileges.
Attack
The following code from a system utility uses the system property APPHOME to determine the directory in which it is installed and then executes an initialization script based on a relative path from the specified directory.
... String home = System.getProperty("APPHOME"); String cmd = home + INITCMD; java.lang.Runtime.getRuntime().exec(cmd); ...
Bad · Java
CVE IDTitleCVSSSeverityPublished
CVE-2025-12793 ASUS System Control Interface 安全漏洞 — ASCI 7.3 -2026-01-06
CVE-2019-25257 LogicalDOC Enterprise 7.7.4 Authenticated Command Execution via Binary Path Manipulation — LogicalDOC Enterprise 6.5 Medium2025-12-24
CVE-2025-67722 Authenticated amportal search for ‘freepbx_engine’ in non root writeable directories leads to potential privilege escalation — framework 7.8AIHighAI2025-12-16
CVE-2025-64785 Acrobat Reader | Untrusted Search Path (CWE-426) — Acrobat Reader 7.8 High2025-12-09
CVE-2025-12819 Untrusted search path in auth_query connection in PgBouncer — PgBouncer 7.5 High2025-12-03
CVE-2025-49642 Agent builds for AIX vulnerable to library loading hijacking — Zabbix 7.8AIHighAI2025-12-01
CVE-2024-21923 AMD StoreMI 安全漏洞 — AMD StoreMI™ 7.3 High2025-11-23
CVE-2024-21922 AMD StoreMI 安全漏洞 — AMD StoreMI™ 7.3 High2025-11-23
CVE-2025-60718 Windows Administrator Protection Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability — Windows 11 Version 24H2 7.8 High2025-11-11
CVE-2025-43079 Local Privilege Escalation via qagent_uninstall.sh Qualys Cloud Agents — Qualys Agent 6.3 Medium2025-11-10
CVE-2024-14012 Potential Privilege Escalation in Revenera InstallShield 2023 R1 — InstallShield 7.8AIHighAI2025-10-29
CVE-2025-49457 Zoom Clients for Windows - Untrusted Search Path — Zoom Clients for Windows 9.6 Critical2025-08-12
CVE-2025-49456 Zoom Clients for Windows- Race Condition — Zoom Clients for Windows 6.2 Medium2025-08-12
CVE-2025-5039 Privilege Ecalation due to Untrusted Search Path Vulnerability — AutoCAD 7.8 High2025-07-24
CVE-2025-23266 NVIDIA Container Toolkit 代码问题漏洞 — Container Toolkit 9.0 Critical2025-07-17
CVE-2025-0141 GlobalProtect App: Privilege Escalation (PE) Vulnerability — GlobalProtect App 7.8AIHighAI2025-07-09
CVE-2025-49124 Apache Tomcat: exe side-loading via icalcs.exe in Tomcat installer for Windows — Apache Tomcat 7.8AIHighAI2025-06-16
CVE-2025-30399 .NET and Visual Studio Remote Code Execution Vulnerability — .NET 8.0 7.5 High2025-06-13
CVE-2025-5335 Privilege Ecalation due to Untrusted Search Path Vulnerability — Installer 7.8 High2025-06-10
CVE-2024-12168 DLL Hijacking in Yandex Telemost — Telemost 7.8AIHighAI2025-06-02
CVE-2025-2501 Lenovo PC Manager 安全漏洞 — PC Manager 7.8 High2025-05-30
CVE-2025-4971 Broadcom Automic Automation Agent Unix privilege escalation — Automic Automation 7.8AIHighAI2025-05-19
CVE-2025-4802 GNU C Library 安全漏洞 — glibc 7.5AIHighAI2025-05-16
CVE-2024-58250 ppp 安全漏洞 — ppp 9.3 Critical2025-04-22
CVE-2025-27743 Microsoft System Center Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability — System Center Data Protection Manager 2019 7.8 High2025-04-08
CVE-2025-31480 aiven-extras allows PostgreSQL Privilege Escalation through format function — aiven-extras 9.1 Critical2025-04-04
CVE-2025-30407 Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud Agent 代码问题漏洞 — Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud Agent 7.8AIHighAI2025-03-26
CVE-2025-1398 macOS TCC Bypass via Code Injection — Mattermost 3.3 Low2025-03-17
CVE-2025-29903 JetBrains Runtime 代码问题漏洞 — Runtime 5.2 Medium2025-03-12
CVE-2025-27167 Illustrator | Untrusted Search Path (CWE-426) — Illustrator 7.8 High2025-03-11

Vulnerabilities classified as CWE-426 (不可信的搜索路径) represent 194 CVEs. The CWE taxonomy describes the weakness; review individual CVEs for product-specific impact.