CVE-2020-1989 Global Protect Agent: Incorrect privilege assignment allows local privilege escalation
A local authenticated user can gain root privileges on Linux ARM systems due to incorrect privilege assignment when writing application-specific files.
- 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-2020-1989?
CVE-2020-1989 is a high-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 incorrect privilege assignment vulnerability when writing application-specific files in the Palo Alto Networks Global Protect Agent for Linux on ARM platform allows a local authenticated user to gain root privileges on the system. This issue affects Palo Alto Networks Global Protect Agent for Linux 5.0 versions before 5.0.8; 5.1 versions before 5.1.1.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-1989?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Paloaltonetworks Globalprotect.
How do I fix CVE-2020-1989?
No fix has been published for CVE-2020-1989 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Is CVE-2020-1989 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-1989 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-35xw-gh3h-mxj5.