Cisco VPN Client Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

BID:7599

Info

Cisco VPN Client Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

Bugtraq ID: 7599
Class: Design Error
CVE:
Remote: No
Local: Yes
Published: May 14 2003 12:00AM
Updated: May 14 2003 12:00AM
Credit: Discovery is credited to Nick Staff <[email protected]>.
Vulnerable: Cisco VPN Client for Windows 3.6.1
Cisco VPN Client for Windows 3.6 (Rel)
Cisco VPN Client for Windows 3.6
Cisco VPN Client for Windows 3.5.4
Cisco VPN Client for Windows 3.5.2 B
Cisco VPN Client for Windows 3.5.2
Cisco VPN Client for Windows 3.5.1 C
Cisco VPN Client for Windows 3.5.1
Cisco VPN Client for Windows 3.1
Cisco VPN Client for Windows 3.0.5
Cisco VPN Client for Windows 3.0
Not Vulnerable:

Discussion

Cisco VPN Client Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

The Cisco VPN client could allow a local attacker to escalate their privilege level. When the VPN client is set to start prior to logon, it runs with local System privileges. A third party application can also be set to be executed by the VPN client. Any application, such as explorer.exe, which is configured to be started by the VPN client, will in turn be executed with local System privileges.

A variant of this issue was reported that affects versions of the VPN client which were thought to not be vulnerable.

Exploit / POC

Cisco VPN Client Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

There is no exploit code required.

Solution / Fix

Cisco VPN Client Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

Solution:
Cisco has stated that an option has been added that allows administrators to enable or disable the "Allow launching of third party applications before logon" option. This issue was added under Cisco Bug ID CSCdt76576.

It has been reported that newer versions do not sufficiently address this issue, and it is still possible to launch third party applications through the VPN client.

References

Cisco VPN Client Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

References:

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