# CVE-2020-1991: Traps: Insecure temporary file vulnerability may allow privilege escalation on Windows

> Local authenticated users can escalate privileges or overwrite system files via insecure temporary files in Palo Alto Traps on Windows.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/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:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-vfx3-vc54-592p

## What is CVE-2020-1991?

CVE-2020-1991 is a high-severity vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR, 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 insecure temporary file vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks Traps allows a local authenticated Windows user to escalate privileges or overwrite system files. This issue affects Palo Alto Networks Traps 5.0 versions before 5.0.8; 6.1 versions before 6.1.4 on Windows. This issue does not affect Cortex XDR 7.0. This issue does not affect Traps for Linux or MacOS.

Weakness: CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management), CWE-377 (DEPRECATED: Insecure Temporary File)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-1991?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Paloaltonetworks Traps.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-1991?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-1991 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-1991 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-1991 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR

- [CVE-2017-7408](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-7408/): Denial of service in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2019-1577](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-1577/): Code injection in Traps (medium 6.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-1991 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-1991 is a high-severity vulnerability in Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR, 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-2020-1991 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Palo Alto Networks Cortex XDR. 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-2020-1991/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-1991/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-1991
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-1991
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-1991

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-1991/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.