ASUS Armoury Crate: Local privilege escalation via DLL search path hijacking
Summary
ASUS Armoury Crate and Armoury Crate SE contain an uncontrolled search path element (CWE-427). A local user can place a malicious dynamic-link library where a high-privilege process loads it, which allows arbitrary code execution with SYSTEM privileges. The attacker needs a local logon with low privileges and no user interaction is required.
Affected
- ASUS Armoury Crate V3.0.0 to V6.5.10 (according to the official CVE record)
- ASUS Armoury Crate SE V2.1.17 to V2.2.17 (according to the official CVE record)
- Note: a third-party mirror lists different ranges (2.1.17 to 2.2.17 for both products); verify against the vendor advisory.
Fixed in
Unknown. No fixed build number was confirmed for this CVE. Check the 'Security Update for Armoury Crate App' section of the ASUS Security Advisory.
Workaround
- No vendor workaround known.
- Restrict local logon and remove unneeded local administrator rights.
- Uninstall Armoury Crate on business devices where it is not required.
Exploitation
- No evidence of exploitation in the wild; not listed in CISA KEV.
- No public exploit or PoC known (VulDB).
- EPSS estimates a 0.12% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.
- CVSS 4.0 base score 8.5 (CNA score); NVD analysis is still pending.
Our recommendation
- Inventory Armoury Crate and Armoury Crate SE versions on all managed endpoints.
- Update to the fixed build as soon as ASUS confirms it, or remove the application where it is not needed.
- Limit local logons and administrator rights on devices with Armoury Crate, especially shared or staff devices.
- Monitor the ASUS Security Advisory for the fixed version.
Public exploits
PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit and Exploit-DB list nothing for this CVE.
Research sources
- ASUS Security Advisory www.asus.com
- VulDB: CVE-2026-102438 exploit status vuldb.com
- Rapid7 vulnerability database www.rapid7.com
- Vulners VulnRichment vulners.com
- BleepingComputer: Armoury Crate bug www.bleepingcomputer.com
- Strix AI CVE record www.strix.ai
- Offseq threat radar radar.offseq.com
- Overclock3D: ASUS confirms Armoury Crate security flaws overclock3d.net
Researched and written up in English and German by an AI (Claude by Anthropic) based on NVD, CISA, EPSS and the sources listed. The vendor information is authoritative. Researched on 1 Nov 2026, 10:23.
Original description (NVD)
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. Refer to the ' Security Update for Armoury Crate App ' section on the ASUS Security Advisory for more information.
NVD references (1)
Sources
The tracker combines official, freely usable data sources – updated continuously:
- NVD (NIST) – CVEs, rating (CVSS), affected products
- CISA KEV – vulnerabilities confirmed by CISA as actively exploited
- CISA Vulnrichment – CISA assessment (SSVC) in the official CVE record
- FIRST EPSS – probability of exploitation
- Microsoft MSRC – Patch Tuesday: vulnerabilities, severity, updates
- PoC-in-GitHub – public proof-of-concept repositories
- Metasploit (Rapid7) – modules of the Metasploit Framework
- Exploit-DB (OffSec) – archive of public exploits (links only)
- Patch days: official vendor pages (linked per vendor) (Vendor patch days)
This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS data © FIRST.org.
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