CVE-2024-29187
WiX based installers are vulnerable to binary hijack when run as SYSTEM
WiX toolset lets developers create installers for Windows Installer, the Windows installation engine. When a bundle runs as SYSTEM user, Burn uses GetTempPathW which points to an insecure directory C:\Windows\Temp to drop and load multiple binaries. Standard users can hijack the binary before it's loaded in the application resulting in elevation of privileges. This vulnerability is fixed in 3.14.1 and 4.0.5.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- Low
- User interaction
- Required
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
WiX based installers are vulnerable to binary hijack when run as SYSTEM
WiX toolset lets developers create installers for Windows Installer, the Windows installation engine. When a bundle runs as SYSTEM user, Burn uses GetTempPathW which points to an insecure directory C:\Windows\Temp to drop and load multiple binaries. Standard users can hijack the binary before it's loaded in the application resulting in elevation of privileges. This vulnerability is fixed in 3.14.1 and 4.0.5.
- Record
CVE-2024-29187- CVSS 3.1
- 7.3 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-732
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2024-1002
WiX toolset lets developers create installers for Windows Installer, the Windows installation engine. When a bundle runs as SYSTEM user, Burn uses GetTempPathW which points to an insecure directory C:\Windows\Temp to drop and load multiple binaries. Standard users can hijack the binary before it's loaded in the application resulting in elevation of privileges. This vulnerability is fixed in 3.14.1 and 4.0.5.
- Record
EUVD-2024-1002- CVSS 3.1
- 7.3 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-rf39-3f98-xr7r
WiX based installers are vulnerable to binary hijack when run as SYSTEM
Summary
Burn uses an unprotected C:\Windows\Temp directory to copy binaries and run them from there. This directory is not entirely protected against low privilege users.
Details
When a bundle runs as SYSTEM user, Burn uses GetTempPathW which points to an insecure directory C:\Windows\Temp to drop and load multiple binaries. Standard users can hijack the binary before it's loaded in the application resulting in elevation of privileges.
icacls c:\windows\temp
BUILTIN\Users:(CI)(S,WD,AD,X) BUILTIN\Administrators:(F) BUILTIN\Administrators:(OI)(CI)(IO)(F) NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:(F) NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:(OI)(CI)(IO)(F) CREATOR OWNER:(OI)(CI)(IO)(F)
Built in users(non-administrators) have special permissions to this folder and can create files and write to this directory. While they do not have explicit read permissions, there is a way they can monitor the changes to this directory using ReadDirectoryChangesW API and thus figure out randomized folder names created inside this directory as wel
PoC
PoC works against the against visual studio enterprise with update 3 installer
Reproduction steps
As a standard user, run the poc. Mount the iso and run visual studio installer as local system account. The PoC should hijack the the binaries dropped by vs installer and a child process "notepad.exe" will be running.
Impact
This is an Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability where a low privileged user can hijack binaries in an unprotected path C:\Windows\Temp to elevate to the SYSTEM user privileges.
- Record
GHSA-rf39-3f98-xr7r- CVSS 3.1
- 7.3 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-732
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
WiX toolset lets developers create installers for Windows Installer, the Windows installation engine. When a bundle runs as SYSTEM user, Burn uses GetTempPathW which points to an insecure directory C:\Windows\Temp to drop and load multiple binaries. Standard users can hijack the binary before it's loaded in the application resulting in elevation of privileges. This vulnerability is fixed in 3.14.1 and 4.0.5.
- Record
CVE-2024-29187- CVSS 3.1
- 7.3 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-732
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
WiX based installers are vulnerable to binary hijack when run as SYSTEM
WiX toolset lets developers create installers for Windows Installer, the Windows installation engine. When a bundle runs as SYSTEM user, Burn uses GetTempPathW which points to an insecure directory C:\Windows\Temp to drop and load multiple binaries. Standard users can hijack the binary before it's loaded in the application resulting in elevation of privileges. This vulnerability is fixed in 3.14.1 and 4.0.5.
- Record
CVE-2024-29187- CVSS 3.1
- 7.3 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-732
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-rf39-3f98-xr7r
WiX based installers are vulnerable to binary hijack when run as SYSTEM
Summary
Burn uses an unprotected C:\Windows\Temp directory to copy binaries and run them from there. This directory is not entirely protected against low privilege users.
Details
When a bundle runs as SYSTEM user, Burn uses GetTempPathW which points to an insecure directory C:\Windows\Temp to drop and load multiple binaries. Standard users can hijack the binary before it's loaded in the application resulting in elevation of privileges.
icacls c:\windows\temp
BUILTIN\Users:(CI)(S,WD,AD,X) BUILTIN\Administrators:(F) BUILTIN\Administrators:(OI)(CI)(IO)(F) NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:(F) NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:(OI)(CI)(IO)(F) CREATOR OWNER:(OI)(CI)(IO)(F)
Built in users(non-administrators) have special permissions to this folder and can create files and write to this directory. While they do not have explicit read permissions, there is a way they can monitor the changes to this directory using ReadDirectoryChangesW API and thus figure out randomized folder names created inside this directory as wel
PoC
PoC works against the against visual studio enterprise with update 3 installer
Reproduction steps
As a standard user, run the poc. Mount the iso and run visual studio installer as local system account. The PoC should hijack the the binaries dropped by vs installer and a child process "notepad.exe" will be running.
Impact
This is an Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability where a low privileged user can hijack binaries in an unprotected path C:\Windows\Temp to elevate to the SYSTEM user privileges.
- Record
GHSA-rf39-3f98-xr7r- CVSS 3.1
- 7.3 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-732
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
wixNuGet |
before 3.14.1 | 3.14.1 |
wixNuGet |
4.0.0 up to 4.0.5 | 4.0.5 |
WixToolset.SdkNuGet |
before 4.0.5 | 4.0.5 |
wixNuGet |
before 3.14.1, plus listed versions 3.10.03.10.0.1719-pre3.10.0.1726-pre3.10.0.2103-pre3.10.0.2103-pre1 Show 23 moreShow less3.10.13.10.23.10.33.10.43.11.03.11.0.1507-rc3.11.0.1528-rc23.11.0.321-pre3.11.0.504-pre3.11.0.906-pre3.11.13.11.23.14.03.6.03.6.0.13.7.03.7.0.13.8.03.8.0.13.9.03.9.0.13.9.23.9.2.1 |
3.14.1 |
wixNuGet |
4.0.0 up to 4.0.5, plus listed versions 4.0.0.2926-pre4.0.0.3226-pre4.0.0.3922-pre4.0.0.4506-pre4.0.0.5512-pre Show 4 moreShow less4.0.14.0.24.0.34.0.4 |
4.0.5 |
WixToolset.SdkNuGet |
before 4.0.5, plus listed versions 4.0.04.0.14.0.24.0.34.0.4 |
4.0.5 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases, products, published | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2024-29187 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.3) in Wixtoolset Project Burn, published March 24, 2024. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.46%, the 40th percentile. Fixed in wix 3.14.1.
References
github.com/wixtoolset/issues/security/advisories/GHSA-rf39-3f98-xr7r
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-29187