PYSEC-2020-194 - In PyInstaller before version 3.6, only on Windows, a local privilege escalation vulnerability is…

Severity: info · Published 2020-01-14

In PyInstaller before version 3.6, only on Windows, a local privilege escalation vulnerability is present in this particular case: If a software using PyInstaller in "onefile" mode is launched by a privileged user (at least more than the current one) which have his "TempPath" resolving to a world writable directory. This is the case for example if the software is launched as a service or as a scheduled task using a system account (TempPath will be C:\Windows\Temp). In order to be exploitable the software has to be (re)started after the attacker launch the exploit program, so for a service launched at startup, a service restart is needed (e.g. after a crash or an upgrade).

Technologies: pyinstaller (PyPI). Vendors: PyPI.

Quick answers

Is This vulnerability exploited in the wild?
No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of This vulnerability being exploited in the wild.
How severe is This vulnerability?
Informational severity, published 14 January 2020.
Which products and versions are affected?
pyinstaller (PyPI) ECOSYSTEM:introduced=0,fixed=3.6.
Is there a fix for This vulnerability?
Yes. pyinstaller (PyPI): upgrade to 3.6 or later. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.
Am I affected?
Check whether you run pyinstaller (PyPI) at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

How to fix

  • pyinstaller (PyPI): upgrade to 3.6 or later
    pip install "pyinstaller>=3.6"

Affected products

  • pyinstaller (PyPI) ECOSYSTEM:introduced=0,fixed=3.6

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