CVE-2020-1988 Global Protect Agent: Local privilege escalation due to an unquoted search path vulnerability
Local attackers can gain system privileges via an unquoted search path vulnerability in the Windows GlobalProtect Agent.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- An administrator
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2020-1988?
CVE-2020-1988 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks Global Protect Agent, published on 8 Apr 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
An unquoted search path vulnerability in the Windows release of Global Protect Agent allows an authenticated local user with file creation privileges on the root of the OS disk (C:\) or to Program Files directory to gain system privileges. This issue affects Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect Agent 5.0 versions before 5.0.5; 4.1 versions before 4.1.13 on Windows;
Weakness: CWE-428
Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-1988?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Paloaltonetworks Globalprotect.
How do I fix CVE-2020-1988?
No fix has been published for CVE-2020-1988 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Is CVE-2020-1988 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-1988 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Palo Alto Networks Global Protect Agent
- CVE-2025-4232 GlobalProtect: Authenticated Code Injection Through Wildcard on macOS
- CVE-2021-3057 GlobalProtect App: Buffer Overflow Vulnerability When Connecting to Portal or Gateway
- CVE-2023-0009 GlobalProtect App: Local Privilege Escalation (PE) Vulnerability
- CVE-2022-0016 GlobalProtect App: Privilege Escalation Vulnerability When Using Connect Before Logon
- CVE-2025-0120 GlobalProtect App: Local Privilege Escalation (PE) Vulnerability
Sources
Also known as GHSA-hp8g-87f8-285m.