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Fencer Intel
high 7.8

CVE-2018-20211 json

ExifTool 8.32 allows local users to gain privileges by creating a %TEMP%\par-%username%\cache-exiftool-8.32 folder with a victim's username…

published 7y ago modified 4mo ago also EUVD-2018-12778

cvss
7.8
version 3.0, NVD
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
1.4%
EPSS 1.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 72%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

ExifTool 8.32 allows local users to gain privileges by creating a %TEMP%\par-%username%\cache-exiftool-8.32 folder with a victim's username, and then copying a Trojan horse ws32_32.dll file into this new folder, aka DLL Hijacking. NOTE: 8.32 is an obsolete version from 2010 (9.x was released starting in 2012, and 10.x was released starting in 2015).

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Exploit prediction

1.38% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 72% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-09).

Exploits and checks

  • seclists.org http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2018/Dec/44 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified
  • packetstormsecurity.com http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/150892/Exiftool-8.3.2.0-DLL-Hijacking.html referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
NVD 3.0 7.8 CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD 2.0 6.8 AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-427 Uncontrolled Search Path Element

References

Sources

Fencer Intel keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.