CVE-2024-31226: Sunshine's unquoted executable path could lead to hijacked execution flow

Severity: low (CVSS 2.9 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2024-05-16 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-428

Description

Sunshine is a self-hosted game stream host for Moonlight. Users who ran Sunshine versions 0.17.0 through 0.22.2 as a service on Windows may be impacted when terminating the service if an attacked placed a file named `C:\Program.exe`, `C:\Program.bat`, or `C:\Program.cmd` on the user's computer. This attack vector isn't exploitable unless the user has manually loosened ACLs on the system drive. If the user's system locale is not English, then the name of the executable will likely vary. Version 0.23.0 contains a patch for the issue. Some workarounds are available. One may identify and block potentially malicious software executed path interception by using application control tools, like Windows Defender Application Control, AppLocker, or Software Restriction Policies where appropriate. Alternatively, ensure that proper permissions and directory access control are set to deny users the ability to write files to the top-level directory `C:`. Require that all executables be placed in write-protected directories.

Affected products

LizardByte Sunshine: from 0.17.0 before 0.23.0 — fixed in 0.23.0

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: LizardByte Sunshine 0.23.0. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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