CVE-2024-49515
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2024-49515 is an untrusted search path vulnerability in Substance3D Painter that could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code by manipulating the application's search path to load malicious programs. This affects users of Substance3D Painter versions 10.1.0 and earlier who open malicious files. The vulnerability requires user interaction through opening a malicious file.
💻 Affected Systems
- Adobe Substance 3D Painter
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system compromise with attacker gaining full control of the victim's machine, potentially leading to data theft, ransomware deployment, or lateral movement within the network.
Likely Case
Local privilege escalation or execution of malicious payloads with the privileges of the user running Substance3D Painter, potentially leading to data exfiltration or installation of persistent malware.
If Mitigated
Limited impact due to proper application sandboxing, restricted user permissions, and security controls preventing execution of untrusted files.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires user interaction (opening malicious file) and knowledge of the application's search path behavior. No public exploit code has been identified as of the advisory date.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 10.2.0 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://helpx.adobe.com/security/products/substance3d_painter/apsb24-86.html
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Open Substance 3D Painter. 2. Go to Help > Check for Updates. 3. Follow prompts to update to version 10.2.0 or later. 4. Restart the application after update completes.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Restrict file execution from untrusted locations
allConfigure application control policies to prevent execution of untrusted binaries from temporary or user-writable directories
User education and file restrictions
allTrain users to only open Substance3D Painter files from trusted sources and implement file type restrictions
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement application whitelisting to prevent execution of unauthorized binaries
- Run Substance3D Painter with minimal user privileges and in isolated environments
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Substance3D Painter version: Open application, go to Help > About Substance 3D Painter. If version is 10.1.0 or earlier, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
On Windows: Check registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Substance 3D Painter\Version. On macOS: Check /Applications/Adobe Substance 3D Painter/Contents/Info.plist for CFBundleShortVersionString.Verify Fix Applied:
Verify version is 10.2.0 or later in Help > About Substance 3D Painter. Test opening known safe project files to ensure functionality.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unexpected process execution from non-standard directories
- Substance3D Painter loading DLLs or executables from user-writable paths
Network Indicators:
- Unusual outbound connections following Substance3D Painter execution
- DNS requests to suspicious domains after file opening
SIEM Query:
Process Creation where (Image contains 'painter' OR ParentImage contains 'painter') AND (CommandLine contains '.dll' OR CommandLine contains '.exe') AND (ImagePath contains 'Temp' OR ImagePath contains 'AppData')