Vulnerability in Pulsesecure Pulse Secure Desktop Client
CVE-2020-13162
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.
Vulnerability class: TOCTOU (Time-of-Check to Time-of-Use)
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 7.0 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.008 (54.6th percentile), scored .
Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 55th percentile — 54.6% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.008 · newest: 0.008 · change: 0.000
Affected products
- Pulsesecure Pulse Secure Desktop Client — versions 5.3, 9.0, 9.1
- Pulsesecure Pulse Secure Installer Service — versions 8.3, 9.1
Weakness classification (CWE)
Public proof-of-concept exploits
References
- kb.pulsesecure.net/ (Vendor Advisory)
- twitter.com/sepcali/status/1262551597990711296 (Third Party Advisory)
- seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/Jun/25 (mailing-list, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory)
- www.redtimmy.com/privilege-escalation/pulse-secure-client-for-windows-9-1-6-toc… (Exploit, Third Party Advisory)
- packetstormsecurity.com/files/158117/Pulse-Secure-Client-For-Windows-Local-Priv… (VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory)
- kb.pulsesecure.net/articles/Pulse_Security_Advisories/SA44503 (Vendor Advisory)
- twitter.com/gsepcali/status/1262551597990711296 (Third Party Advisory)
- twitter.com/gsepcali/status/1272927080909623297 (Third Party Advisory)
- seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/Sep/15 (mailing-list, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory)
- packetstormsecurity.com/files/159065/Pulse-Secure-Windows-Client-Privilege-Esca… (VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2020-13162?
- CVE-2020-13162 is a high-severity vulnerability in Pulsesecure Pulse Secure Desktop Client, classified under Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition. CVSS score: 7.0/10. Published 2020-06-16.
- How severe is CVE-2020-13162?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.0 out of 10.
- Is CVE-2020-13162 known to be exploited?
- 8 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.