Vulnerability-Lookup

GHSA-MHP8-FVH4-C285

Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-09-20 15:30 – Updated: 2026-09-20 15:30

Details

Improper link resolution before file access in the quarantine restoration process of WatchDog Anti-Virus 1.8.640 on Windows allows local, low-privileged attackers to cause a quarantined file to be written to an arbitrary filesystem location by creating a directory junction at the original file path and persuading an administrator to restore the file. This may enable modification of protected files or SYSTEM-level code execution through DLL hijacking.

Severity

5.2 (Medium)


                  
                    CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:A/VC:L/VI:L/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/RE:L/U:Green

Show details on source website

JSON

To clipboard

{
  "affected": [],
  "aliases": [
    "CVE-2026-92253"
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "cwe_ids": [
      "CWE-59"
    ],
    "github_reviewed": false,
    "github_reviewed_at": null,
    "nvd_published_at": "2026-09-20T13:17:46Z",
    "severity": "MODERATE"
  },
  "details": "Improper link resolution before file access in the quarantine restoration process of WatchDog Anti-Virus 1.8.640 on Windows allows local, low-privileged attackers to cause a quarantined file to be written to an arbitrary filesystem location by creating a directory junction at the original file path and persuading an administrator to restore the file. This may enable modification of protected files or SYSTEM-level code execution through DLL hijacking.",
  "id": "GHSA-mhp8-fvh4-c285",
  "modified": "2026-09-20T15:30:23Z",
  "published": "2026-09-20T15:30:23Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-92253"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://watchdog.com/anti-virus-release-notes"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://watchdog.com/vulnerability-disclosure-policy"
    }
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.4.0",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:A/VC:L/VI:L/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:L/U:Green",
      "type": "CVSS_V4"
    }
  ]
}

CVE-2026-92253 (GCVE-0-2026-92253)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-09-20 12:24 – Updated: 2026-09-21 14:12

Title

Arbitrary File Write via Directory Junction in WatchDog Anti-Virus Quarantine Restoration

Summary

Severity

5.2 (Medium)


                        
                          CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:A/VC:L/VI:L/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/RE:L/U:Green

SSVC

Exploitation: none Automatable: no Technical Impact: partial

CISA Coordinator · CISA-ADP (v2.0.3)

Decision recorded 2026-09-21 14:11 UTC

CWE

CWE-59 - Improper link resolution before file access ('link following')

Assigner

watchdog mitre root

References

2 references

URL	Tags
https://watchdog.com/vulnerability-disclosure-policy/
https://watchdog.com/anti-virus-release-notes/

Impacted products

1 product

Vendor	Product	Version
WatchDog	Anti-Virus	Affected: 1.8.640 , < 1.8.804 (semver)

Credits

Patrick Tung

Show details on NVD website

JSON

To clipboard

{
  "containers": {
    "adp": [
      {
        "metrics": [
          {
            "other": {
              "content": {
                "id": "CVE-2026-92253",
                "options": [
                  {
                    "Exploitation": "none"
                  },
                  {
                    "Automatable": "no"
                  },
                  {
                    "Technical Impact": "partial"
                  }
                ],
                "role": "CISA Coordinator",
                "timestamp": "2026-09-21T14:11:52.365935Z",
                "version": "2.0.3"
              },
              "type": "ssvc"
            }
          }
        ],
        "providerMetadata": {
          "dateUpdated": "2026-09-21T14:12:03.001Z",
          "orgId": "134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0",
          "shortName": "CISA-ADP"
        },
        "title": "CISA ADP Vulnrichment"
      }
    ],
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "platforms": [
            "Windows"
          ],
          "product": "Anti-Virus",
          "vendor": "WatchDog",
          "versions": [
            {
              "lessThan": "1.8.804",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "1.8.640",
              "versionType": "semver"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "credits": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "type": "finder",
          "value": "Patrick Tung"
        }
      ],
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "supportingMedia": [
            {
              "base64": false,
              "type": "text/html",
              "value": "Improper link resolution before file access in the quarantine restoration process of WatchDog Anti-Virus 1.8.640 on Windows allows local, low-privileged attackers to cause a quarantined file to be written to an arbitrary filesystem location by creating a directory junction at the original file path and persuading an administrator to restore the file. This may enable modification of protected files or SYSTEM-level code execution through DLL hijacking.\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e"
            }
          ],
          "value": "Improper link resolution before file access in the quarantine restoration process of WatchDog Anti-Virus 1.8.640 on Windows allows local, low-privileged attackers to cause a quarantined file to be written to an arbitrary filesystem location by creating a directory junction at the original file path and persuading an administrator to restore the file. This may enable modification of protected files or SYSTEM-level code execution through DLL hijacking."
        }
      ],
      "impacts": [
        {
          "capecId": "CAPEC-132",
          "descriptions": [
            {
              "lang": "en",
              "value": "CAPEC-132 Symlink Attack"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "cvssV4_0": {
            "Automatable": "NOT_DEFINED",
            "Recovery": "NOT_DEFINED",
            "Safety": "NOT_DEFINED",
            "attackComplexity": "LOW",
            "attackRequirements": "NONE",
            "attackVector": "LOCAL",
            "baseScore": 5.2,
            "baseSeverity": "MEDIUM",
            "exploitMaturity": "NOT_DEFINED",
            "privilegesRequired": "LOW",
            "providerUrgency": "GREEN",
            "subAvailabilityImpact": "NONE",
            "subConfidentialityImpact": "NONE",
            "subIntegrityImpact": "NONE",
            "userInteraction": "ACTIVE",
            "valueDensity": "NOT_DEFINED",
            "vectorString": "CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:A/VC:L/VI:L/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/RE:L/U:Green",
            "version": "4.0",
            "vulnAvailabilityImpact": "HIGH",
            "vulnConfidentialityImpact": "LOW",
            "vulnIntegrityImpact": "LOW",
            "vulnerabilityResponseEffort": "LOW"
          },
          "format": "CVSS",
          "scenarios": [
            {
              "lang": "en",
              "value": "GENERAL"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "problemTypes": [
        {
          "descriptions": [
            {
              "cweId": "CWE-59",
              "description": "CWE-59 Improper link resolution before file access (\u0027link following\u0027)",
              "lang": "en",
              "type": "CWE"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-09-20T12:24:47.393Z",
        "orgId": "34edf4f2-2577-40ab-82ce-39f45972c129",
        "shortName": "watchdog"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "url": "https://watchdog.com/vulnerability-disclosure-policy/"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://watchdog.com/anti-virus-release-notes/"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "discovery": "EXTERNAL"
      },
      "title": "Arbitrary File Write via Directory Junction in WatchDog Anti-Virus Quarantine Restoration",
      "x_generator": {
        "engine": "Vulnogram 1.0.5"
      }
    }
  },
  "cveMetadata": {
    "assignerOrgId": "34edf4f2-2577-40ab-82ce-39f45972c129",
    "assignerShortName": "watchdog",
    "cveId": "CVE-2026-92253",
    "datePublished": "2026-09-20T12:24:47.393Z",
    "dateReserved": "2026-09-15T21:07:00.097Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-09-21T14:12:03.001Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.2"
}

Sightings

Author	Source	Type	Date	Other

Nomenclature

Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.

The MITRE ATT&CK techniques below are AI-generated suggestions, inferred from the description of the vulnerability by the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-classification-roberta-base model, served locally by ML-Gateway. They have not been verified by an analyst and are provided for guidance only.
The approach is described in our paper Mapping CVEs to MITRE ATT&CK Techniques: A Curated Gold-Set Classifier and the Limits of LLM-Assisted Label Expansion.
Browse all ATT&CK techniques and the vulnerabilities related to each.

Related by attack behaviour

Vulnerabilities whose description is nearest to this one in the vector space of the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-biencoder model. This is a similarity search over the bi-encoder space (plain cosine), not a classification, and it has no measured accuracy.

Action not permitted

GHSA-MHP8-FVH4-C285

CVE-2026-92253 (GCVE-0-2026-92253)

Tags

Sightings

Nomenclature

Related by attack behaviour