GlobalprotectApplication · Paloaltonetworks
CVE-2019-17436
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedA Local Privilege Escalation vulnerability exists in GlobalProtect Agent for Linux and Mac OS X version 5.0.4 and earlier and version 4.1.12 and earlier, that can allow non-root users to overwrite root files on the file system.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceGlobalProtect Agent for Linux and Mac OS X versions 5.0.4 and earlier and 4.1.12 and earlier contains a local privilege escalation vulnerability allowing non-root users to overwrite root-owned files on the filesystem. This indicates improper file permission handling or a race condition in how the agent handles files, potentially during installation or runtime operations.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data
GlobalprotectApplication
<= 5.0.4<= 4.1.12CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check if GlobalProtect is installed on LinuxRun 'dpkg -l | grep -i globalprotect' or 'rpm -qa | grep -i globalprotect' to list installed GlobalProtect packages, or check for directory /usr/local/GlobalProtect/Affected if GlobalProtect package or directory exists on the system
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Check if GlobalProtect is installed on Mac OS XRun 'system_profiler SPApplicationsDataType | grep -i GlobalProtect' or check /Applications folder for GlobalProtect.app, or use 'pkgutil --pkg-info=com.paloaltonetworks.GlobalProtect'Affected if GlobalProtect application exists on the Mac system
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Determine the installed GlobalProtect versionDetermine the installed version - on Linux check the package version from dpkg/rpm output, or run /usr/local/GlobalProtect/health Check --version; on Mac right-click GlobalProtect.app > Get Info or run '/Applications/GlobalProtect.app/Contents/MacOS/GlobalProtect --version'Affected if Version returned is 5.0.4 or earlier for 5.x branch, or 4.1.12 or earlier for 4.x branch
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Compare against affected version rangesIf version is identified, compare it to the affected ranges: 5.x branch versions <= 5.0.4 and 4.x branch versions <= 4.1.12 are vulnerableAffected if Installed version falls within or below 5.0.4 (for 5.x) or 4.1.12 (for 4.x)
The system is affected if GlobalProtect Agent is installed and the version is 5.0.4 or earlier (5.x branch) or 4.1.12 or earlier (4.x branch).
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpgrade GlobalProtect Agent to a version newer than 5.0.4 (for the 5.x branch) and newer than 4.1.12 (for the 4.x branch) to remediate this vulnerability.
Fix this in Globalprotect
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-17436 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-17436 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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