Privilege escalation in InstallShield

1) Creation of Temporary File With Insecure Permissions

EUVDB-ID: #VU75721

Risk: Low

CVSSv3.1: 6.8 [CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C]

CVE-ID: CVE-2023-29080

CWE-ID: CWE-378 - Creation of Temporary File With Insecure Permissions

Exploit availability: No

Description

The vulnerability allows a local user to escalate privileges on the system.

The vulnerability exists due to an InstallScript custom action, added to a Basic MSI or InstallScript MSI project, extracts few binaries to a predefined writable folder during installation time. A local user can overwrite the files and execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges.

Mitigation

Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

InstallShield: 2021 R2 - 2022 R2

External links

http://community.flexera.com/t5/InstallShield-Knowledge-Base/CVE-2023-29080-Security-patch-for-the-possible-privileged/tac-p/268905

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

No. This vulnerability can be exploited locally. The attacker should have authentication credentials and successfully authenticate on the system.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.