CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2023-0009NVD status: Modified

GlobalProtect App: Reliance on Untrusted Inputs in a Security Decision

Published Updated By the CyberSecBulletin desk

CVE-2023-0009 is a high-severity reliance on untrusted inputs in a security decision vulnerability in GlobalProtect App from Palo Alto Networks, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.8 out of 10. It can be exploited with local access to the system by an attacker with a low-privileged account, without any action from a user. The record lists versions 6.1.1, 6.0.5, 5.2.13 as the first without the flaw, so updating GlobalProtect App to one of those releases or later removes the exposure. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.18% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.

Next patch cycle

High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.

What to do

  1. Update GlobalProtect App to 6.1.1 or 6.0.5 or 5.2.13, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
  2. Update Globalprotect to 5.2.13 or 6.0.5, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
  3. Read the advisory on security.paloaltonetworks.com for workarounds and exact fixed builds.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
Palo Alto NetworksGlobalProtect App6.1 up to, but not including, 6.1.1; 6.0 up to, but not including, 6.0.5; 5.2 up to, but not including, 5.2.136.1.1, 6.0.5, 5.2.13
Palo Alto NetworksGlobalprotectbefore 5.2.13; 6.0.0 up to, but not including, 6.0.5; 6.1.05.2.13, 6.0.5

Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.

How the severity score breaks down

Attack vector
LocalThe attacker needs local access or must trick a user into running something.
Attack complexity
LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
Privileges required
LowA basic user account is enough.
User interaction
NoneNo action by a victim is required.
Scope
UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
Confidentiality
HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
Integrity
HighData or code can be modified at will.
Availability
HighThe component can be taken down completely.

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by NVD.

Scoring systemScoreSeverityScored by
CVSS 3.17.8HighCNA (paloaltonetworks.com)
CVSS 3.17.8HighNVD

Official description

A local privilege escalation (PE) vulnerability in the Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect app on Windows enables a local user to execute programs with elevated privileges.

Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.

The underlying weakness: Reliance on Untrusted Inputs in a Security Decision

The product uses a protection mechanism that relies on the existence or values of an input, but the input can be modified by an untrusted actor in a way that bypasses the protection mechanism.

How developers prevent this class of flaw

  • Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid. With a stateless protocol such as HTTP, use a framework that maintains the state for you. Examples include ASP.NET View State and the OWASP ESAPI Session Management feature. Be careful of language features that provide state support, since these might be provided as a convenience to the programmer and may not be considering security.
  • For any security checks that are performed on the client side, ensure that these checks are duplicated on the server side, in order to avoid CWE-602. Attackers can bypass the client-side checks by modifying values after the checks have been performed, or by changing the client to remove the client-side checks entirely. Then, these modified values would be submitted to the server.
  • When using PHP, configure the application so that it does not use register_globals. During implementation, develop the application so that it does not rely on this feature, but be wary of implementing a register_globals emulation that is subject to weaknesses such as CWE-95, CWE-621, and similar issues.

More Reliance on Untrusted Inputs in a Security Decision vulnerabilities (CWE-807)

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: total).
  3. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Other vulnerabilities in GlobalProtect App

All GlobalProtect App vulnerabilities

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