# CVE-2026-102438: ASUS Armoury Crate uncontrolled search path DLL injection

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-102438-an-uncontrolled-search-path-element-vulnerability-in-asus  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2026-10-20. Updated: 2026-10-20  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2026-102438 · Severity: info · Published 2026-10-20

ASUS Armoury Crate is a system utility that manages ASUS hardware and drivers on computers. A local user can replace a dynamic-link library file to execute arbitrary code with SYSTEM privileges when a high-privilege process loads the library, potentially allowing complete system compromise.

Technologies: [ASUS Armoury Crate](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/armoury-crate). Vendors: [ASUS](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/asus).

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2026-102438 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-102438 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2026-102438?** Informational severity, published 20 October 2026.

**Which products and versions are affected?** ASUS Armoury Crate.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2026-102438?** No fixed version is recorded yet. Check the vendor's advisory in the references below. If you run it, Junglewise drafts a mitigation that fits your setup and applies it once you approve, with senior security engineers behind it.

**How is CVE-2026-102438 attacked?** It is attacked with local access, in a network appliance.

**Am I affected by CVE-2026-102438?** Check whether you run ASUS Armoury Crate. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

## Technical details

An uncontrolled search path element vulnerability in ASUS Armoury Crate allows local DLL injection: a low-privilege attacker can place a malicious DLL in a directory searched before the legitimate library, causing a high-privilege process to load and execute the attacker's code with SYSTEM privileges. This is a classic DLL hijacking attack requiring local access but no user interaction.

## Affected products

- ASUS Armoury Crate

## Timeline

- 2026-10-20: disclosed

## References

- [https://www.asus.com/security-advisory](https://www.asus.com/security-advisory)

## Related threats

- [ASUS Armoury Crate missing authorization in inter-process interface](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-110464-missing-authorization-in-asus-armoury-crate-allows-a-local)
- [ASUS Armoury Crate privilege escalation via driver authentication bypass](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-75811-asus-armoury-crate-privilege-escalation-via-driver-authentication)
- [ASUS Armoury Crate exposed dangerous method denial of service](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-75810-asus-armoury-crate-exposed-dangerous-method-denial-of-service)
- [ASUS Armoury Crate privilege escalation via insufficient IOCTL access control](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-75809-asus-armoury-crate-privilege-escalation-via-insufficient-ioctl)
- [ASUS Armoury Crate resource exhaustion in memory allocation](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-75808-asus-armoury-crate-resource-exhaustion-in-memory-allocation)