How severe is GHSA-rf39-3f98-xr7r?

GHSA-rf39-3f98-xr7r has a CVSS score of 7.3/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by GHSA-rf39-3f98-xr7r?

GHSA-rf39-3f98-xr7r affects the following packages: wix (NuGet), wix (NuGet), WixToolset.Sdk (NuGet). Ecosystems affected: NuGet.

How do I fix GHSA-rf39-3f98-xr7r?

Update wix to 3.14.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-rf39-3f98-xr7r is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

How do I detect GHSA-rf39-3f98-xr7r in my NuGet dependencies?

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.

How do I mitigate GHSA-rf39-3f98-xr7r if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

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 does O3 Security protect against GHSA-rf39-3f98-xr7r?

O3 pinpoints whether GHSA-rf39-3f98-xr7r is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.

Is GHSA-rf39-3f98-xr7r actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for GHSA-rf39-3f98-xr7r yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

What is the EPSS score for GHSA-rf39-3f98-xr7r?

GHSA-rf39-3f98-xr7r has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 0.5%, placing it in the 37th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

What type of vulnerability is GHSA-rf39-3f98-xr7r?

GHSA-rf39-3f98-xr7r is classified as CWE-732 (CWE-732). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

When was GHSA-rf39-3f98-xr7r published, and has it been updated?

GHSA-rf39-3f98-xr7r was published on March 25, 2024 and was last updated on March 25, 2024. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

.NET NuGet

GHSA-rf39-3f98-xr7r

HIGH

WiX based installers are vulnerable to binary hijack when run as SYSTEM

Also known asCVE-2024-29187

Published

Mar 25, 2024

Updated

Mar 25, 2024

Affected

3 pkgs

Patched

3 / 3

Exploits

None indexed

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

0.5%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk37th percentile+0.38%

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.

Blast Radius

3 pkgs affected

.NETwix.NETwix.NETWixToolset.Sdk

Real-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

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.

Affected Packages

3 total 3 fixed

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.Sdk`	all versions	4.0.5

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
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 GHSA-rf39-3f98-xr7r 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 GHSA-rf39-3f98-xr7r 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 GHSA-rf39-3f98-xr7r. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.

Frequently Asked Questions

### 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:(

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is GHSA-rf39-3f98-xr7r in your dependencies?

O3 detects GHSA-rf39-3f98-xr7r across NuGet dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.

Scan my dependencies How O3 SCA works