Chocolatey Boxstarter is vulnerable to privilege escalation due to weak ACLs [CVE-2020-15264]
CVE Number = CVE-2020-15264
Chocolatey Boxstarter fails to properly set ACLs, which can allow an unprivileged Windows user to be able to run arbitrary code with SYSTEM privileges.
The Chocolatey Boxstarter installer fails to set a secure access-control list (ACL) on the C:\ProgramData\Boxstarter directory, which is added to the system-wide PATH environment variable. A privilege escalation vulnerability is introduced since any location in the system-wide PATH environment variable may be used to load code that runs with privileges.
By placing a specially-crafted DLL file in the C:\ProgramData\Boxstarter directory, an unprivileged user may be able to execute arbitrary code with SYSTEM privileges on a Windows system with the vulnerable Boxstarter software installed. See DLL Search Order Hijacking for more details.
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This vulnerability is addressed in Chocolatey Boxstarter version 2.13.0. Please see the security advisory for more details.
Duncan is a technology professional with over 20 years experience of working in various IT roles. He has a interest in cyber security, and has a wide range of other skills in radio, electronics and telecommunications.