GHSA-r3r2-35v9-v238
HIGHGHSA-r3r2-35v9-v238 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.3) CWE-732 vulnerability in briefcase. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-r3r2-35v9-v238 is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
Briefcase: Windows MSI Installer Privilege Escalation via Insecure Directory Permissions
Blast Radius
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Description
Impact
If a developer uses Briefcase to produce an Windows MSI installer for a project, and that project is installed for All Users (i.e., per-machine scope), the installation process creates an directory that inherits all the permissions of the parent directory. Depending on the location chosen by the installing user, this may allow a low privilege but authenticated user to replace or modify the binaries installed by the application. If an administrator then runs the altered binary, the binary will run with elevated privileges.
Patches
The problem is caused by the template used to generate the WXS file for Windows projects. It was fixed with the following PRs:
- beeware/briefcase-windows-app-template#86
- beeware/briefcase-windows-VisualStudio-template#85
These patches have been backported to the templates used in Briefcase 0.3.26, 0.4.0, and 0.4.1. Re-running briefcase create on your Briefcase project will result in the updated templates being used.
Workarounds
The change from beeware/briefcase-windows-app-template#86 can be added to any existing Briefcase .wxs file generated by Briefcase 0.3.24 or later.
Resources
beeware/briefcase#2759 is a formal bug report of the problem.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐍PyPI | briefcase | ≥ 0.3.0&&< 0.3.26 | 0.3.26 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for briefcase. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update briefcase to 0.3.26 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-r3r2-35v9-v238 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
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.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether GHSA-r3r2-35v9-v238 is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to GHSA-r3r2-35v9-v238. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-r3r2-35v9-v238 in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-r3r2-35v9-v238 across PyPI dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.