# CVE-2020-8269: Privilege escalation in Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops

> An unprivileged Windows user can execute arbitrary commands as SYSTEM on Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, leading to full system compromise.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 16 Nov 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-x9cq-5m73-v949

## What is CVE-2020-8269?

CVE-2020-8269 is a high-severity vulnerability in Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, published on 16 Nov 2020. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An unprivileged Windows user on the VDA can perform arbitrary command execution as SYSTEM in CVAD versions before 2009, 1912 LTSR CU1 hotfixes CTX285870 and CTX286120, 7.15 LTSR CU6 hotfix CTX285344 and 7.6 LTSR CU9

Weakness: CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-8269?

It affects 3 products.


Products: Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, Citrix Xenapp, Citrix Xendesktop.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-8269?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-8269 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-8269 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-8269 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops

- [CVE-2020-8283](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-8283/): Privilege escalation in Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2020-8270](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-8270/): Command injection in Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2024-6151](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-6151/): Local Privilege escalation allows a low-privileged user to gain SYSTEM privileges (high 8.5)
- [CVE-2023-24483](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-24483/): Privilege Escalation to NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM on the vulnerable VDA (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2021-22928](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-22928/): Privilege escalation in Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops (high 7.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-8269 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-8269 is a high-severity vulnerability in Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, published on 16 Nov 2020. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-8269 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops. 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-2020-8269/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-8269/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-8269
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-8269
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-8269

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-8269/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.