CVE-2020-16886 PowerShellGet Module WDAC Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability
An attacker with admin privileges can bypass WDAC policy to execute arbitrary code on locked-down machines via PowerShellGet.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2020-16886?
CVE-2020-16886 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Microsoft PowerShellGet 2.2.5, published on 16 Oct 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
<p>A security feature bypass vulnerability exists in the PowerShellGet V2 module. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could bypass WDAC (Windows Defender Application Control) policy and execute arbitrary code on a policy locked-down machine.</p> <p>An attacker must have administrator privileges to create a configuration that includes installing PowerShellGet V2 module onto a machine from the PowerShell Gallery. The WDAC policy must be configured to allow the module to run. After this is done, PowerShell script can be injected and run fully trusted, allowing the attacker arbitrary code execution on the machine.</p> <p>The update addresses the vulnerability by changing how URLs are processed.</p>
Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-16886?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Microsoft Powershellget.
How do I fix CVE-2020-16886?
No fix has been published for CVE-2020-16886 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Is CVE-2020-16886 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-16886 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-xp2m-r7f6-m54m.