DLL Search Path and Symbolic Link Vulnerabilities - Lenovo Support US

Lenovo Security Advisory: LEN-27431

Potential Impact: Privilege escalation

Severity: Medium

Scope of Impact: Lenovo-specific

CVE Identifier: CVE-2019-6173, CVE-2019-6196

Summary Description:

DLL search path and symbolic link vulnerabilities could allow privilege escalation in some Lenovo installation packages, prior to version 1.2.9.3, only during installation. Software already installed is not vulnerable to these issues.

CVE-2019-6173: A DLL search path vulnerability could allow privilege escalation in some Lenovo installation packages during installation if an attacker already has administrative privileges.

CVE-2019-6196: A symbolic link vulnerability in some Lenovo installation packages could allow privileged file operations during file extraction and installation.

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Mitigation Strategy for Customers (what you should do to protect yourself):

NOTE: These vulnerabilities can only be leveraged during software installation. If you are not installing software, you are not impacted by this issue.

To mitigate these vulnerabilities, Lenovo recommends installing Lenovo software updates through Lenovo Vantage, Lenovo System Update, or Windows Update. Updates delivered through Update Retriever, Thin Installer, and System Update are also not affected. Lenovo installation packages version 1.2.9.3 or later are not affected. To verify package version, use these steps.

For system administrators who want to mitigate auto-update scripts they have built, the recommended steps to take can be found here.

As always, to prevent potential attackers from gaining administrative privileges, users are advised to protect themselves through good security practices such as updating anti-virus software, using only safe internet connections and not clicking on unknown links or web pages.

Acknowledgement:

Lenovo thanks Eran Shimony at CyberArk Labs for reporting this issue.

References:

Source code for installer patch: <https://github.com/lenovoinc/issrc/tree/DLL_Injection_TempDir_fix&gt;

Revision History:

For a complete list of all Lenovo Product Security Advisories, click here.

For the most up to date information, please remain current with updates and advisories from Lenovo regarding your equipment and software. The information provided in this advisory is provided on an “as is” basis without any warranty or guarantee of any kind. Lenovo reserves the right to change or update this advisory at any time.