CVE-2025-14406
📋 TL;DR
Soda PDF Desktop contains an uncontrolled search path vulnerability where it loads OpenSSL configuration files from insecure locations. This allows local attackers who already have low-privileged access to escalate to SYSTEM privileges by planting malicious configuration files. Only users running vulnerable versions of Soda PDF Desktop on Windows systems are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Soda PDF Desktop
📦 What is this software?
Soda Pdf by Sodapdf
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system compromise with SYSTEM-level code execution, allowing attackers to install persistent malware, steal credentials, disable security controls, and pivot to other systems.
Likely Case
Local privilege escalation from a standard user account to SYSTEM, enabling installation of additional malware, credential harvesting, and persistence mechanisms.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper application control, least privilege enforcement, and restricted file permissions preventing malicious DLL planting.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires local access and ability to write files to specific directories. The vulnerability is well-documented by ZDI with technical details available.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Not specified in available references, but vendor likely released update
Vendor Advisory: Not provided in available references
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Check Soda PDF Desktop version. 2. Update to latest version from official vendor website. 3. Restart system after installation. 4. Verify update applied successfully.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Restrict file permissions on OpenSSL configuration directories
windowsSet strict ACLs on directories where Soda PDF Desktop searches for OpenSSL configuration files to prevent unauthorized writes
icacls "C:\Program Files\Soda PDF" /deny Users:(OI)(CI)W
icacls "C:\ProgramData\Soda PDF" /deny Users:(OI)(CI)W
Remove unnecessary Soda PDF Desktop installations
windowsUninstall Soda PDF Desktop from systems where it's not required for business operations
appwiz.cpl
Select Soda PDF Desktop and click Uninstall
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement application control to block execution of Soda PDF Desktop
- Enforce least privilege and restrict standard users from writing to program directories
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check if Soda PDF Desktop is installed and running an outdated version. Monitor for OpenSSL configuration file writes in application directories.Check Version:
Check version in Soda PDF Desktop Help > About menu or examine installed programs listVerify Fix Applied:
Verify Soda PDF Desktop is updated to latest version and test that OpenSSL configuration files cannot be written to insecure locations by standard users.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- File creation events in Soda PDF directories by non-admin users
- Process creation events showing Soda PDF loading unexpected DLLs
Network Indicators:
- Unusual outbound connections from SYSTEM context after Soda PDF execution
SIEM Query:
EventID=11 OR EventID=4688 | where ProcessName contains "Soda" AND (TargetFilename contains ".cnf" OR TargetFilename contains "openssl")