01 Record
CVE-2020-13162
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
HighPUBLISHEDCNA: mitre
CNA base score7.0 CVSS v3.xCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
02 Description
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
03 Exploitation and scoring
- Exploitation
- Public exploit code exists. CISA's assessment records a public proof of concept. That is not a report of exploitation in the wild.
- SSVC decision
- ExploitationpocPublic proof-of-concept exploit code exists. Not a report of exploitation in the wild.
- AutomatablenoAt least one step from reconnaissance to exploitation cannot be reliably automated.
- Technical ImpacttotalSuccessful exploitation gives total control of the vulnerable component.
- EPSS probability
- 0.79% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days.
- EPSS percentile
- Equal to or higher than the score of 55.8% of scored records. A rank, not a probability.
- NVD base score
- 7.0 (CVSS v3.x), scored by the NVD independently of the CNA.
- NVD CVSS vector
- CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- NVD analysis status
- Modified. NVD last modified this record on 2026-06-17.
- Red Hat severity
- No Red Hat rating. Red Hat rates the CVEs that affect its products.
Exploit-prediction scores from FIRST. Independent scoring and analysis status from the NVD. Vendor severity from Red Hat. Exploitation assessment and catalog membership from CISA.
04 Metadata
- Published
- 2020-06-16 19:41Z6 YR AGO
- Last updated
- 2025-05-05 17:08Z1 YR AGO
- Reserved
- 2020-05-19
- Assigning CNA
- mitre
- Record state
- PUBLISHED
- Severity
- High (CVSS 7.0)
- CNA CVSS vector
- CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- Weaknesses
- CWE-367Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race ConditionBase
- Data version
- 5.1
- Document digest
- c15b6f97fc4ce5da24b2d54aaede3d02be15cb86d64ad43e6c7d4a7e4be15955
05 Affected products
VendorProductVersionsPlatforms
06 References
- kb.pulsesecure.nethttps://kb.pulsesecure.net/?atype=sa
- twitter.comhttps://twitter.com/sepcali/status/1262551597990711296
- seclists.org20200616 Pulse Secure Client < 9.1R6 TOCTOU Privilege Escalation (CVE-2020-13162)http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/Jun/25
- www.redtimmy.comhttps://www.redtimmy.com/privilege-escalation/pulse-secure-client-for-windows-9-1-6-toctou-privilege-escalation-cve-2020-13162/
- packetstormsecurity.comhttp://packetstormsecurity.com/files/158117/Pulse-Secure-Client-For-Windows-Local-Privilege-Escalation.html
- kb.pulsesecure.nethttps://kb.pulsesecure.net/articles/Pulse_Security_Advisories/SA44503
- twitter.comhttps://twitter.com/gsepcali/status/1262551597990711296
- twitter.comhttps://twitter.com/gsepcali/status/1272927080909623297
- seclists.org20200904 Pulse Secure Windows Client <9.1.6 (CVE-2020-13162) - exploithttp://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/Sep/15
- packetstormsecurity.comhttp://packetstormsecurity.com/files/159065/Pulse-Secure-Windows-Client-Privilege-Escalation.html