CVE-2020-12612: High severity beyondtrust privilege management vulnerability
An issue was discovered in BeyondTrust Privilege Management for Windows through 5.6. When specifying a program to elevate, it can typically be found within the Program Files (x86) folder and therefore uses the %ProgramFiles(x86)% environment variable. However, when this same policy gets pushed to a 32bit machine, this environment variable does not exist. Therefore, since the standard user can create a user level environment variable, they can repoint this variable to any folder the user has full control of. Then, the folder structure can be created in such a way that a rule matches and arbitrary code runs elevated.
Affected Software
Event History
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the severity of CVE-2020-12612?
CVE-2020-12612 has a medium severity rating, which indicates it poses a potential risk to affected systems.
How do I fix CVE-2020-12612?
To fix CVE-2020-12612, upgrade BeyondTrust Privilege Management for Windows to version 5.6 or later.
What systems are affected by CVE-2020-12612?
CVE-2020-12612 affects versions of BeyondTrust Privilege Management for Windows prior to version 5.6.
What is the nature of the vulnerability described in CVE-2020-12612?
CVE-2020-12612 involves a flaw in the environment variable handling when policies for elevating programs are applied.
Is there a workaround for CVE-2020-12612 if I cannot update?
Currently, there are no documented workarounds for CVE-2020-12612, so upgrading is recommended.