An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when the Windows Shell fails to validate folder shortcuts. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could elevate privileges by escaping a sandbox. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would require unprivileged execution on the victim system. The security update addresses the vulnerability by correctly validating folder shortcuts.
Weakness
The product attempts to access a file based on the filename, but it does not properly prevent that filename from identifying a link or shortcut that resolves to an unintended resource.
Affected Software
| Name | Vendor | Start Version | End Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows_10 | Microsoft | - (including) | - (including) |
| Windows_10 | Microsoft | 1607 (including) | 1607 (including) |
| Windows_10 | Microsoft | 1703 (including) | 1703 (including) |
| Windows_10 | Microsoft | 1709 (including) | 1709 (including) |
| Windows_10 | Microsoft | 1803 (including) | 1803 (including) |
| Windows_10 | Microsoft | 1809 (including) | 1809 (including) |
| Windows_10 | Microsoft | 1903 (including) | 1903 (including) |
| Windows_7 | Microsoft | –sp1 (including) | –sp1 (including) |
| Windows_8.1 | Microsoft | - (including) | - (including) |
| Windows_rt_8.1 | Microsoft | - (including) | - (including) |
| Windows_server_2008 | Microsoft | –sp2 (including) | –sp2 (including) |
| Windows_server_2008 | Microsoft | r2-sp1 (including) | r2-sp1 (including) |
| Windows_server_2012 | Microsoft | - (including) | - (including) |
| Windows_server_2012 | Microsoft | r2 (including) | r2 (including) |
| Windows_server_2016 | Microsoft | - (including) | - (including) |
| Windows_server_2016 | Microsoft | 1803 (including) | 1803 (including) |
| Windows_server_2016 | Microsoft | 1903 (including) | 1903 (including) |
| Windows_server_2019 | Microsoft | - (including) | - (including) |
Potential Mitigations
- Follow the principle of least privilege when assigning access rights to entities in a software system.
- Denying access to a file can prevent an attacker from replacing that file with a link to a sensitive file. Ensure good compartmentalization in the system to provide protected areas that can be trusted.
Related Attack Patterns
- https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/132.html
- https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/17.html
- https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/35.html
- https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/76.html