CVE-2018-11072 in Digital Delivery
Summary
by MITRE
Dell Digital Delivery versions prior to 3.5.1 contain a DLL Injection Vulnerability. A local authenticated malicious user with advance knowledge of the application workflow could potentially load and execute a malicious DLL with administrator privileges.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/28/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2018-11072 affects Dell Digital Delivery software versions prior to 3.5.1, representing a critical DLL injection flaw that enables privilege escalation attacks. This vulnerability resides within the application's dynamic link library loading mechanism, where improper validation of DLL paths allows malicious actors to inject arbitrary code into the legitimate application process. The flaw specifically targets the software's execution flow during application startup or specific workflow operations, creating an entry point for unauthorized code execution with elevated privileges.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and insecure dynamic loading practices within the Dell Digital Delivery application. When the application loads DLL modules, it fails to properly verify the integrity and source of dynamically loaded libraries, allowing attackers to manipulate the DLL search order. This weakness enables a malicious user to place a crafted DLL in a location that the application will load before the legitimate DLL, effectively hijacking the execution flow. The vulnerability requires local authentication and advance knowledge of the application's workflow, making it a targeted attack vector rather than a broad exposure.
Operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple code execution, as it provides attackers with administrator-level privileges within the context of the Dell Digital Delivery application. This privilege escalation capability enables malicious actors to perform actions such as modifying system configurations, accessing sensitive data, installing additional malware, or creating persistent backdoors within the system. The attack scenario typically involves a user with legitimate access to the system who can manipulate the application's execution environment to load malicious code. The implications are particularly severe in enterprise environments where Dell Digital Delivery is deployed across multiple systems, potentially enabling lateral movement and broader system compromise.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2018-11072 primarily focus on updating to Dell Digital Delivery version 3.5.1 or later, which includes proper DLL loading validation and secure execution practices. Organizations should implement application whitelisting policies to restrict DLL loading from unauthorized locations and establish strict file permission controls on system directories where DLLs are loaded. Security configurations should include disabling unnecessary application features that may contribute to DLL loading vulnerabilities, and implementing monitoring for suspicious DLL loading activities. From a compliance perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-778 and CWE-427 categories, addressing inadequate input validation and insecure dynamic loading practices. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this as a privilege escalation technique through DLL injection, specifically mapping to the T1055.001 sub-technique for execution through dynamic-link library injection, highlighting the need for comprehensive endpoint protection and application control measures to prevent exploitation.