# CVE-2020-12431: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Local attackers can escalate privileges to SYSTEM via insecure permissions and DLL hijacking in Splashtop Software Updater.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.6 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 21 May 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-cmcx-h36r-grrw

## What is CVE-2020-12431?

CVE-2020-12431 is a medium-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 21 May 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

A Windows privilege change issue was discovered in Splashtop Software Updater before 1.5.6.16. Insecure permissions on the configuration file and named pipe allow for local privilege escalation to NT AUTHORITY/SYSTEM, by forcing a permission change to any Splashtop files and directories, with resultant DLL hijacking. This product is bundled with Splashtop Streamer (before 3.3.8.0) and Splashtop Business (before 3.3.8.0).

Weakness: CWE-732 (Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-12431?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Splashtop Software Updater, Splashtop Streamer.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-12431?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-12431 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-12431 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-12431 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-12431 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-12431 is a medium-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 21 May 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-12431 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-12431/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-12431/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-12431
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-12431
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-12431

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-12431/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.