CVE-2020-13162 — A time-of-check time-of-use vulnerability in PulseSecureService
A time-of-check time-of-use vulnerability in PulseSecureService.exe in Pulse Secure Client versions prior to 9.1.6 down to 5.3 R70 for Windows (which runs as NT AUTHORITY/SYSTEM) allows unprivileged users to run a Microsoft Installer executable with elevated privileges.
Published
2020-06-16T19:41:18.000Z
Last modified
2025-05-05T17:08:09.077Z
01What is this vulnerability?
A time-of-check time-of-use vulnerability in PulseSecureService.exe in Pulse Secure Client versions prior to 9.1.6 down to 5.3 R70 for Windows (which runs as NT AUTHORITY/SYSTEM) allows unprivileged users to run a Microsoft Installer executable with elevated privileges.
02Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|
| n | a / n/a | n/a |
03Active exploitation status
Not currently listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. EPSS is the best forward-looking signal — see the EPSS row above.
04Recommended remediation
- Patch to a fixed version listed in the vendor advisory (see references below).
- Mitigate with WAF rules, network egress filters, or feature flags where the patch is not yet available.
- Hunt historical logs for exploitation indicators — see Detection signatures below.
05Technical details
For the full vendor write-up, exploit chains, and reference implementations, see the references list in section 09.
06Detection signatures
Ask SARA in chat to draft a starting detection for this CVE in your stack of choice.
07Related CVEs
No directly-cited follow-up CVEs in the KB record for this advisory. The references list in section 09 carries the vendor cross-references.
08Timeline
- Published: 2020-06-16T19:41:18.000Z
- Last modified: 2025-05-05T17:08:09.077Z
09References
- kb.pulsesecure.net — https://kb.pulsesecure.net/?atype=sa
- twitter.com — https://twitter.com/sepcali/status/1262551597990711296
- seclists.org — http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/Jun/25
- www.redtimmy.com — https://www.redtimmy.com/privilege-escalation/pulse-secure-client-for-windows-9-…
- packetstormsecurity.com — http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/158117/Pulse-Secure-Client-For-Windows-Loca…
- kb.pulsesecure.net — https://kb.pulsesecure.net/articles/Pulse_Security_Advisories/SA44503
- twitter.com — https://twitter.com/gsepcali/status/1262551597990711296
- twitter.com — https://twitter.com/gsepcali/status/1272927080909623297
- seclists.org — http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/Sep/15
- packetstormsecurity.com — http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/159065/Pulse-Secure-Windows-Client-Privileg…
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