CVE-2025-2297: BeyondTrust Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
This blog post details a local privilege escalation vulnerability, CVE-2025-2297, affecting BeyondTrust products. A local attacker with authenticated access can leverage this flaw to gain administrator privileges by manipulating user profile files. Read on to understand the vulnerability, its impact, and how to mitigate it.
Vulnerability Details
- CVE ID: CVE-2025-2297
- Description: Prior to version 25.4.270.0, a local authenticated attacker can manipulate user profile files to add illegitimate challenge response codes into the local user registry under certain conditions. This allows users with the ability to edit their user profile files to elevate their privileges to administrator.
- CVSS Score: 7.2 HIGH
- CVSS Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
- CVSS Explanation: This vulnerability requires local access (AV:L) and a high level of complexity (AC:H) due to the need for specific user profile manipulation. The attacker must be present at the machine (AT:P) and have low privileges initially (PR:L). Successful exploitation results in high impact to confidentiality (VC:H) and integrity (VI:H), but no impact on availability (VA:N).
- Exploit Requirements: Local user account with the ability to edit their user profile files.
- Affected Vendor: BeyondTrust
- Affected Product: Not specified in CVE (check BeyondTrust advisory)
- Affected Version: Prior to 25.4.270.0
- CWE: CWE-268: Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere
- CWE Explanation: CWE-268 occurs when a resource (in this case, the user registry) is exposed to an actor (a user) that should not have access to modify it, leading to unintended privilege escalation.
Timeline of Events
- 2025-07-28: CVE Published
- 2025-07-28: BeyondTrust Security Advisory Released
Exploitability & Real-World Risk
While requiring local access, this vulnerability poses a significant risk in environments where users have the ability to modify their profiles. An attacker could potentially automate the profile manipulation process to quickly elevate privileges. This vulnerability could be chained with other vulnerabilities to achieve remote code execution or data exfiltration once administrative access is gained.
Recommendations
- Upgrade: Upgrade to BeyondTrust version 25.4.270.0 or later.
- Least Privilege: Enforce the principle of least privilege, limiting users' ability to modify their profiles wherever possible.
- Monitor: Monitor user profile changes for suspicious activity.
Technical Insight
The vulnerability stems from the ability of local users to inject malicious challenge response codes into the user registry through their profile files. These codes, when processed by the system, allow the attacker to bypass authentication checks and gain administrator privileges. This highlights the importance of properly validating and sanitizing user-supplied data, even when it originates from local sources.
Credit to Researcher(s)
The discovery of this vulnerability is credited to the BeyondTrust security team.
References
Tags
#CVE-2025-2297 #BeyondTrust #PrivilegeEscalation #LocalPrivilegeEscalation #SecurityVulnerability
Summary: CVE-2025-2297 is a local privilege escalation vulnerability in BeyondTrust that allows a local, authenticated attacker to manipulate user profile files to gain administrator privileges. Upgrade to version 25.4.270.0 or later to mitigate this risk.
CVE ID: CVE-2025-2297
Risk Analysis: Successful exploitation allows an attacker to gain full administrative control over the local system, potentially leading to data theft, system compromise, or further attacks on the network.
Recommendation: Upgrade to BeyondTrust version 25.4.270.0 or later. Enforce the principle of least privilege and monitor user profile changes for suspicious activity.
Timeline
- 2025-07-28: CVE Published & BeyondTrust Advisory Released