A time-of-check time-of-use vulnerability in PulseSecureService.exe in Pulse Secure Client versions prior to 9.1.6 down to 5.3 R70 for Windows (which runs as NT AUTHORITY/SYSTEM) allows unprivileged users to run a Microsoft Installer executable with elevated privileges.
Weakness
The product checks the state of a resource before using that resource, but the resource’s state can change between the check and the use in a way that invalidates the results of the check.
Affected Software
| Name | Vendor | Start Version | End Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pulse_secure_desktop_client | Pulsesecure | 5.3-r1.0 (including) | 5.3-r1.0 (including) |
| Pulse_secure_desktop_client | Pulsesecure | 5.3-r1.1 (including) | 5.3-r1.1 (including) |
| Pulse_secure_desktop_client | Pulsesecure | 5.3-r2.0 (including) | 5.3-r2.0 (including) |
| Pulse_secure_desktop_client | Pulsesecure | 5.3-r3.0 (including) | 5.3-r3.0 (including) |
| Pulse_secure_desktop_client | Pulsesecure | 5.3-r4.1 (including) | 5.3-r4.1 (including) |
| Pulse_secure_desktop_client | Pulsesecure | 5.3-r4.2 (including) | 5.3-r4.2 (including) |
| Pulse_secure_desktop_client | Pulsesecure | 5.3-r5.0 (including) | 5.3-r5.0 (including) |
| Pulse_secure_desktop_client | Pulsesecure | 5.3-r5.2 (including) | 5.3-r5.2 (including) |
| Pulse_secure_desktop_client | Pulsesecure | 5.3-r6.0 (including) | 5.3-r6.0 (including) |
| Pulse_secure_desktop_client | Pulsesecure | 5.3-r7.0 (including) | 5.3-r7.0 (including) |
| Pulse_secure_desktop_client | Pulsesecure | 9.0-r1.0 (including) | 9.0-r1.0 (including) |
| Pulse_secure_desktop_client | Pulsesecure | 9.0-r2 (including) | 9.0-r2 (including) |
| Pulse_secure_desktop_client | Pulsesecure | 9.0-r2.1 (including) | 9.0-r2.1 (including) |
| Pulse_secure_desktop_client | Pulsesecure | 9.0-r3 (including) | 9.0-r3 (including) |
| Pulse_secure_desktop_client | Pulsesecure | 9.0-r3.2 (including) | 9.0-r3.2 (including) |
| Pulse_secure_desktop_client | Pulsesecure | 9.0-r4 (including) | 9.0-r4 (including) |
| Pulse_secure_desktop_client | Pulsesecure | 9.0-r4.0 (including) | 9.0-r4.0 (including) |
| Pulse_secure_desktop_client | Pulsesecure | 9.0-r5.0 (including) | 9.0-r5.0 (including) |
| Pulse_secure_desktop_client | Pulsesecure | 9.0-r6.0 (including) | 9.0-r6.0 (including) |
| Pulse_secure_desktop_client | Pulsesecure | 9.1-r1.0 (including) | 9.1-r1.0 (including) |
| Pulse_secure_desktop_client | Pulsesecure | 9.1-r2.0 (including) | 9.1-r2.0 (including) |
| Pulse_secure_desktop_client | Pulsesecure | 9.1-r3.0 (including) | 9.1-r3.0 (including) |
| Pulse_secure_desktop_client | Pulsesecure | 9.1-r3.1 (including) | 9.1-r3.1 (including) |
| Pulse_secure_desktop_client | Pulsesecure | 9.1-r4.0 (including) | 9.1-r4.0 (including) |
| Pulse_secure_desktop_client | Pulsesecure | 9.1-r4.1 (including) | 9.1-r4.1 (including) |
| Pulse_secure_desktop_client | Pulsesecure | 9.1-r4.2 (including) | 9.1-r4.2 (including) |
| Pulse_secure_desktop_client | Pulsesecure | 9.1-r5.0 (including) | 9.1-r5.0 (including) |
| Pulse_secure_desktop_client | Pulsesecure | 9.1-r6.0 (including) | 9.1-r6.0 (including) |
| Pulse_secure_desktop_client | Pulsesecure | 9.1-r7.0 (including) | 9.1-r7.0 (including) |
| Pulse_secure_installer_service | Pulsesecure | 8.3 (including) | 8.3 (including) |
| Pulse_secure_installer_service | Pulsesecure | 9.1 (including) | 9.1 (including) |
| Pulse_secure_installer_service | Pulsesecure | 9.1-r5.0 (including) | 9.1-r5.0 (including) |
Potential Mitigations
Related Attack Patterns
References
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/158117/Pulse-Secure-Client-For-Windows-Local-Privilege-Escalation.html
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/159065/Pulse-Secure-Windows-Client-Privilege-Escalation.html
- http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/Jun/25
- http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/Sep/15
- https://kb.pulsesecure.net/?atype=sa
- https://kb.pulsesecure.net/articles/Pulse_Security_Advisories/SA44503
- https://twitter.com/gsepcali/status/1262551597990711296
- https://twitter.com/gsepcali/status/1272927080909623297
- https://twitter.com/sepcali/status/1262551597990711296
- https://www.redtimmy.com/privilege-escalation/pulse-secure-client-for-windows-9-1-6-toctou-privilege-escalation-cve-2020-13162/
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/158117/Pulse-Secure-Client-For-Windows-Local-Privilege-Escalation.html
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/159065/Pulse-Secure-Windows-Client-Privilege-Escalation.html
- http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/Jun/25
- http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/Sep/15
- https://kb.pulsesecure.net/?atype=sa
- https://kb.pulsesecure.net/articles/Pulse_Security_Advisories/SA44503
- https://twitter.com/gsepcali/status/1262551597990711296
- https://twitter.com/gsepcali/status/1272927080909623297
- https://twitter.com/sepcali/status/1262551597990711296
- https://www.redtimmy.com/privilege-escalation/pulse-secure-client-for-windows-9-1-6-toctou-privilege-escalation-cve-2020-13162/