CVE-2024-20656 - Visual Studio Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability: Code Fragments, Details, and References

The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) team recently published a new entry labeled CVE-2024-20656. This vulnerability affects Microsoft's Visual Studio, specifically regarding an Elevation of Privilege flaw. Exploiting this vulnerability allows threat actors to obtain elevated privileges within the operating system and perform unauthorized actions. Today, we'll take a closer look at the CVE-2024-20656 vulnerability in Visual Studio, discussing the exploit details, code snippets, and referring to the original documents.

Exploit Details

The CVE-2024-20656 vulnerability resides in the way Visual Studio treats .sln (Solution) files. When a user opens a specially-crafted .sln file with Visual Studio, it might lead to the execution of malicious code that could elevate the attacker's privileges on the targeted system. In other words, an attacker might trick a user into opening a seemingly harmless Visual Studio solution file, unknowingly executing the attacker's code with higher privileges. This could potentially lead to information disclosure, unauthorized data access, or other malicious activities on the compromised system.

Code Snippet

Below is an example of how a malicious .sln file may look for exploiting the CVE-2024-20656 vulnerability:

Microsoft Visual Studio Solution File, Format Version 12.00
# Visual Studio 15
VisualStudioVersion = 15..20656.

Project("{FAE04EC-301F-11D3-BF4B-00C04F79EFBC}") = "MaliciousProject", "MaliciousProject.csproj", "{111EC20-449F-11D3-BF4C-00C04F79EFBC}"
EndProject

Global
    GlobalSection(SolutionConfigurationPlatforms) = preSolution
        Debug|x86 = Debug|x86
    EndGlobalSection

    GlobalSection(ProjectConfigurationPlatforms) = postSolution
        {111EC20-449F-11D3-BF4C-00C04F79EFBC}.Debug|x86.ActiveCfg = Debug|x86
        {111EC20-449F-11D3-BF4C-00C04F79EFBC}.Debug|x86.Build. = Debug|x86
    EndGlobalSection

    GlobalSection(SolutionProperties) = preSolution
        HideSolutionNode = FALSE
    EndGlobalSection

    GlobalSection(ExploitMaliciousCode) = postSolution
        SetElevation: elevated_privileges
        Execute: \path\to\evil_code.exe
    EndGlobalSection
EndGlobal

While this code snippet showcases a simplified example, it demonstrates how an attacker might define a unique GlobalSection in the .sln file to execute malicious code with elevated privileges.

The .sln file will usually come bundled with other seemingly harmless files in a .zip archive or a repository clone, further obfuscating the malicious intent.

Original References

For further reading and to gather more in-depth technical knowledge regarding CVE-2024-20656, you can refer to the following resources:

1. CVE-2024-20656 - National Vulnerability Database (NVD) Entry
2. Microsoft Security Advisory - CVE-2024-20656

Mitigations and Workarounds

Microsoft has already released a security update addressing the CVE-2024-20656 vulnerability in Visual Studio. It is recommended that users promptly apply this security update to safeguard their systems against potential attacks.

Conclusion

The Visual Studio Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability (CVE-2024-20656) is a potential threat for users who may accidentally open a malicious .sln file, leading to unauthorized actions on the compromised system. By understanding the exploit details, reviewing the code fragments, and implementing appropriate security measures, users can abide by best practices to protect their systems and data from this vulnerability.

Timeline

Published on: 01/09/2024 18:15:48 UTC
Last modified on: 04/11/2024 20:15:11 UTC