# 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.

- **Severity:** High 7.0 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 8 Apr 2020
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-35xw-gh3h-mxj5

## 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.

Weakness: CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management), CWE-266 (Incorrect Privilege Assignment)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-1989?

It affects 1 product.


Products: 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](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-4232/): GlobalProtect: Authenticated Code Injection Through Wildcard on macOS (high 8.5)
- [CVE-2021-3057](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-3057/): GlobalProtect App: Buffer Overflow Vulnerability When Connecting to Portal or Gateway (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2023-0009](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-0009/): GlobalProtect App: Local Privilege Escalation (PE) Vulnerability (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2022-0016](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-0016/): GlobalProtect App: Privilege Escalation Vulnerability When Using Connect Before Logon (high 7.4)
- [CVE-2025-0120](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-0120/): GlobalProtect App: Local Privilege Escalation (PE) Vulnerability (high 7.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-1989 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: 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.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-1989 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Palo Alto Networks Global Protect Agent. 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-2020-1989/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-1989/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-1989
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-1989
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-1989

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-1989/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.