CVE-2024-29188
HIGHCVE-2024-29188 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.9) CWE-59 vulnerability in wix. O3 Security confirms whether CVE-2024-29188 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Malicious directory junction can cause WiX RemoveFoldersEx to possibly delete elevated files
Blast Radius
wix.NETwix.NETWixToolset.Util.wixextReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects NuGet packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
WiX toolset lets developers create installers for Windows Installer, the Windows installation engine. The custom action behind WiX's RemoveFolderEx functionality could allow a standard user to delete protected directories. RemoveFolderEx deletes an entire directory tree during installation or uninstallation. It does so by recursing every subdirectory starting at a specified directory and adding each subdirectory to the list of directories Windows Installer should delete. If the setup author instructed RemoveFolderEx to delete a per-user folder from a per-machine installer, an attacker could create a directory junction in that per-user folder pointing to a per-machine, protected directory. Windows Installer, when executing the per-machine installer after approval by an administrator, would delete the target of the directory junction. This vulnerability is fixed in 3.14.1 and 4.0.5.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| .NETNuGet | wix | all versions | 3.14.1 |
| .NETNuGet | wix | ≥ 4.0.0&&< 4.0.5 | 4.0.5 |
| .NETNuGet | WixToolset.Util.wixext | all versions | 4.0.5 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for wix. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update wix to 3.14.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2024-29188 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether CVE-2024-29188 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to CVE-2024-29188. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2024-29188 in your dependencies?
O3 detects CVE-2024-29188 across NuGet dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.