{"id":"CVE-2026-102438","kind":"vulnerability","aliases":["CVE-2026-102438"],"related":[],"title":"ASUS Armoury Crate: local DLL search path flaw grants SYSTEM code execution","description":"An uncontrolled search path element vulnerability in ASUS Armoury Crate allows local users to execute arbitrary code with SYSTEM privileges via replacement of a dynamic-link library (DLL) that is later loaded by a high-privilege process.\nRefer to the '\nSecurity Update for Armoury Crate App ' section on the ASUS Security Advisory for more information.","summary":"ASUS Armoury Crate loads a dynamic-link library from an uncontrolled search path, and a high-privilege process later loads it. A local user who plants a replacement DLL can run arbitrary code with SYSTEM privileges.","severity":"high","cvss":8.5,"epss":null,"exploited":false,"exploited_at":null,"products":[],"ecosystems":[],"tags":["armoury-crate","asus","endpoints","infrastructure","windows"],"not_affected_if":["no-armoury-crate-installed","single-trusted-user"],"how_to_check":"- Open Armoury Crate and check the installed version against the ASUS Security Advisory referenced in the NVD entry\n- unknown for exact version strings and file paths, as the sources do not say","fix":"- Update Armoury Crate to the fixed version listed in the ASUS Security Advisory (the version number is unknown from these sources)","status":"open","published_at":"2026-10-20T02:17:08+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T21:57:19+00:00","triaged_at":"2026-10-25T03:00:30+00:00","updated_at":"2026-10-25T03:00:30+00:00","category":"infrastructure","confidence":0.6,"triage":{"at":"2026-10-25T03:00:30Z","model":"claude-haiku-5-5","output":{"fix":"- Update Armoury Crate to the fixed version listed in the ASUS Security Advisory (the version number is unknown from these sources)","reach":"local","title":"ASUS Armoury Crate: local DLL search path flaw grants SYSTEM code execution","impact":"high","summary":"ASUS Armoury Crate loads a dynamic-link library from an uncontrolled search path, and a high-privilege process later loads it. A local user who plants a replacement DLL can run arbitrary code with SYSTEM privileges.","category":"infrastructure","nicknames":[],"who_cares":["windows","asus","armoury-crate","endpoints"],"confidence":0.6,"needs_auth":"yes","worst_case":"local user runs arbitrary code as SYSTEM","analyst_note":"Find the affected and fixed Armoury Crate versions and the update steps in the ASUS Security Advisory (linked from the NVD entry).","how_to_check":"- Open Armoury Crate and check the installed version against the ASUS Security Advisory referenced in the NVD entry\n- unknown for exact version strings and file paths, as the sources do not say","needs_analyst":true,"not_affected_if":["no-armoury-crate-installed","single-trusted-user"],"who_is_affected":"Windows machines with ASUS Armoury Crate installed are exposed, and the flaw needs a local user account on that machine. Systems without Armoury Crate, or where only trusted administrators can log in, carry lower risk. The sources do not list affected version ranges.","user_interaction":"no","needs_special_setup":"no","severity_if_unknown":"high"},"cost_usd":0.000614,"input_tokens":3343,"output_tokens":559,"severity_before":"high"},"analyst_status":null,"analyst_note":null,"search":"'-102438':15A,18A '-2026':14A,17A 'advisori':117C 'allow':74C 'app':111C 'arbitrari':59B,79C 'armouri':2A,20B,27B,72C,109C 'armoury-cr':19B 'asus':1A,22B,26B,71C,115C 'code':11A,60B,80C 'crate':3A,21B,28B,73C,110C 'cve':13A,16A 'dll':5A,56B,92C 'dynam':32B,89C 'dynamic-link':31B,88C 'element':68C 'endpoint':23B 'execut':12A,78C 'flaw':8A 'grant':9A 'high':43B,100C 'high-privileg':42B,99C 'inform':120C 'infrastructur':24B 'later':46B,95C 'librari':34B,91C 'link':33B,90C 'load':29B,47B,96C 'local':4A,50B,75C 'path':7A,39B,67C 'plant':53B 'privileg':44B,63B,83C,101C 'process':45B,102C 'refer':103C 'replac':55B,85C 'run':58B 'search':6A,38B,66C 'section':112C 'secur':106C,116C 'system':10A,62B,82C 'uncontrol':37B,65C 'updat':107C 'user':51B,76C 'via':84C 'vulner':69C 'window':25B","nicknames":[],"mitigations":[],"who_affected":"Windows machines with ASUS Armoury Crate installed are exposed, and the flaw needs a local user account on that machine. Systems without Armoury Crate, or where only trusted administrators can log in, carry lower risk. The sources do not list affected version ranges.","tier":"B","verified":{},"analyst_revisit_at":null,"first_public_at":"2026-10-20T02:17:08+00:00","kev":null,"cvss_vector":"CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X","cvss_by":"54bf65a7-a193-42d2-b1ba-8e150d3c35e1","poc_count":0,"sources":[{"source":"nvd","external_id":"CVE-2026-102438","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-102438","severity":null,"published_at":"2026-10-20T02:17:08+00:00","modified_at":"2026-10-21T04:17:06+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T21:57:19+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-10-23T22:28:57+00:00","note":null}],"documents":[],"notice":"Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai"}