CVE-2020-12612

Privilege escalation via user-controlled environment variable

Published Dec 12, 2023 · Updated Aug 4, 2024

Privilege escalation in BeyondTrust Privilege Management for Windows before 5.6 SR2 allows local users to execute code with elevated rights. On 32-bit Windows, application matching queries a user-level ProgramFiles(x86) environment variable when the system variable is absent, allowing a user-controlled folder tree to satisfy an elevation rule. A standard local account can redirect the variable and place arbitrary code in the matched path, causing that code to run elevated.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability0.26%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Privilege escalation in BeyondTrust Privilege Management for Windows before 5.6 SR2 allows local users to execute code with elevated rights. On 32-bit Windows, application matching queries a user-level ProgramFiles(x86) environment variable when the system variable is absent, allowing a user-controlled folder tree to satisfy an elevation rule. A standard local account can redirect the variable and place arbitrary code in the matched path, causing that code to run elevated.

The record

CVE
CVE-2020-12612
Published
Dec 12, 2023
Updated
Aug 4, 2024
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Dec 12, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 4, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Affected buildAffected product and version details are unavailable.

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

7.8NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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