CVE Vulnerabilities

CVE-2021-43237

Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')

Published: Dec 15, 2021 | Modified: Jul 12, 2022
CVSS 3.x
7.3
HIGH
Source:
NVD
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS 2.x
6.9 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
RedHat/V2
RedHat/V3
Ubuntu

Windows Setup Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Weakness

The product attempts to access a file based on the filename, but it does not properly prevent that filename from identifying a link or shortcut that resolves to an unintended resource.

Affected Software

Name Vendor Start Version End Version
Windows_10 Microsoft 20h2 (including) 20h2 (including)
Windows_10 Microsoft 21h1 (including) 21h1 (including)
Windows_10 Microsoft 21h2 (including) 21h2 (including)
Windows_10 Microsoft 1909 (including) 1909 (including)
Windows_10 Microsoft 2004 (including) 2004 (including)
Windows_11 Microsoft - (including) - (including)
Windows_server Microsoft 20h2 (including) 20h2 (including)
Windows_server Microsoft 2022 (including) 2022 (including)
Windows_server_2016 Microsoft 2004 (including) 2004 (including)

Potential Mitigations

  • Follow the principle of least privilege when assigning access rights to entities in a software system.
  • Denying access to a file can prevent an attacker from replacing that file with a link to a sensitive file. Ensure good compartmentalization in the system to provide protected areas that can be trusted.

References