CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2020-3427 — The Windows Logon installer prior to 4.1.2 did not properly validate file installation paths

High CVSS 7.8

The Windows Logon installer prior to 4.1.2 did not properly validate file installation paths. This allows an attacker with local user privileges to coerce the installer to write to arbitrary privileged directories. If successful, an attacker can manipulate files used by Windows Logon, cause Denial of Service (DoS) by deleting file(s), or replace system files to potentially achieve elevation of privileges. Note that this can only exploitable during new installations while the installer is running and is not exploitable once installation is finished. Versions 4.1.2 of Windows Logon addresses this issue.

Severity
High
CVSS
7.8 (3.1)
Published
2020-10-14
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
windows/system
Weaknesses
CWE-280

Affected products

  • cisco / duo_authentication_for_windows_logon_and_rdp

Matched remediation archetype

Privilege escalation and unsafe privilege management

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Map service accounts, operating-system identities, roles, capabilities, impersonation, set-user transitions, and administrative helper paths.
  • Determine whether untrusted users or lower-privilege processes can reach the affected transition or modify inputs it trusts.
  • Review file, socket, registry, device, job, container, and cloud-role permissions used before and after privilege changes.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the supported fix and redesign privileged operations as a minimal, authenticated, allowlisted interface.
  • Drop privileges before processing untrusted input, verify the drop succeeds, and remove unnecessary roles, capabilities, and write permissions.
  • Validate ownership and permissions at time of use and add explicit lower-to-higher privilege boundary tests.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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