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Securepoint SSL VPN v2 vulnerability - Local privilege escalation

High
QtOlli published GHSA-v8p8-4w8f-qh34 Jun 28, 2021

Package

openvpn-client

Affected versions

2.0.31

Patched versions

2.0.32

Description

Risk Rating:
High

Description:
Securepoint SSL VPN Client v2 on Windows has an unsafe configuration handling that enables local privilege escalation to NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM.

Impact:
A non-privileged local user can modify the openvpn configuration stored at %APPDATA%\Securepoint SSL VPN\config${name}${name}.ovpn and add a external script file that is executed as privileged user.

Affected Product:
Securepoint SSL VPN Client v2 2.0.31 or earlier.

Workaround:
No workaround available.

Solution:
Securepoint SSL VPN Client v2 upgrade to 2.0.32 or newer

Patches:

  • SSL VPN v2 versions 2.0.32 contains a check for the script security setting higher than 1(build-in-tools). Additionally the openvpn executable 2.5.1 is also patched to prevent a script security higher than 1.

  • SSL VPN v2 versions 2.0.33 contains a protection to modify the openvpn configuration in the appdata application directory(%APPDATA%\Securepoint SSL VPN\config*).
    The openvpn executable 2.5.2 is also patched to prevent a script security higher than 1(like in 2.0.32).
    Additionally the openvpn configuration will be started from a restricted location after it is not unauthorized modified. The unauthorized modified protection is implemented by a checksum of the configuration content.
    Setting a new checksum of a configuration is only possible if the user has administrator privilege. If UAC is enabled, the UAC dialog appears.

Credit:
Thanks to Florian Bogner, Co-Founder of Bee IT Security (https://bee-itsecurity.at/) for reporting this vulnerability under responsible disclosure.

References:
https://openvpn.net/community-resources/reference-manual-for-openvpn-2-4/
https://bogner.sh/2021/04/local-privilege-escalation-in-securepoint-ssl-vpn-client-2-0-30/

For more information:
If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

Open an issue in project repo
Email us at security@securepoint.de

Severity

High

CVE ID

CVE-2021-35523

Weaknesses

Improper Privilege Management

The product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor. Learn more on MITRE.