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.NET
.NET NuGet
Not in CISA KEV
HIGH severity

WiX Burn-based bundles are vulnerable to binary hijack when run as SYSTEMGHSA-g4v6-69p6-q3p4

HIGHFix: nirbar/wix4@0410df9

GHSA-g4v6-69p6-q3p4 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.3) vulnerability in PanelSwWix4.Sdk. A fix is available for PanelSwWix4.Sdk — see the affected versions and patch details below.

Published
Updated
Affected
1 pkg
Patched
1 / 1
Exploits
None indexed
Exploitation data as of Mar 25, 2024 · OSV.dev, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected
.NETPanelSwWix4.Sdk

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects NuGet packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

Summary

Burn uses an unprotected C:\Windows\Temp directory to copy binaries and run them from there. This directory is not entirely protected against low privilege users.

Details

When a bundle runs as SYSTEM user, Burn uses GetTempPathW which points to an insecure directory C:\Windows\Temp to drop and load multiple binaries. Standard users can hijack the binary before it's loaded in the application resulting in elevation of privileges.

icacls c:\windows\temp

BUILTIN\Users:(CI)(S,WD,AD,X)
BUILTIN\Administrators:(F)
BUILTIN\Administrators:(OI)(CI)(IO)(F)
NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:(F)
NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:(OI)(CI)(IO)(F)
CREATOR OWNER:(OI)(CI)(IO)(F)

Built in users(non-administrators) have special permissions to this folder and can create files and write to this directory. While they do not have explicit read permissions, there is a way they can monitor the changes to this directory using ReadDirectoryChangesW API and thus figure out randomized folder names created inside this directory as wel

PoC

PoC works against the against visual studio enterprise with update 3 installer

Reproduction steps

As a standard user, run the poc. Mount the iso and run visual studio installer as local system account. The PoC should hijack the the binaries dropped by vs installer and a child process "notepad.exe" will be running.

Impact

This is an Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability where a low privileged user can hijack binaries in an unprotected path C:\Windows\Temp to elevate to the SYSTEM user privileges.

Affected Packages

1 total 1 fixed
EcosystemPackageVulnerable rangeFix
.NETNuGetPanelSwWix4.Sdkall versions5.0.0-psw-wix.0265-49dotnet add package PanelSwWix4.Sdk --version 5.0.0-psw-wix.0265-49

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency
  1. Detect

    Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for PanelSwWix4.Sdk, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

  2. Fix

    Update PanelSwWix4.Sdk to 5.0.0-psw-wix.0265-49 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-g4v6-69p6-q3p4 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

  3. Workarounds

    If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.

Frequently Asked Questions

# Summary Burn uses an unprotected C:\Windows\Temp directory to copy binaries and run them from there. This directory is not entirely protected against low privilege users. # Details When a bundle runs as SYSTEM user, Burn uses GetTempPathW which points to an insecure directory C:\Windows\Temp to drop and load multiple binaries. Standard users can hijack the binary before it's loaded in the application resulting in elevation of privileges. ``` icacls c:\windows\temp BUILTIN\Users:(CI)(S,WD,AD,X) BUILTIN\Administrators:(F) BUILTIN\Administrators:(OI)(CI)(IO)(F) NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:(F) NT A
O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

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WiX Burn-based bundles are vulnerable to binary hijack…