CVE-2020-12614
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 · uneditedAn issue was discovered in BeyondTrust Privilege Management for Windows through 5.6. If the publisher criteria is selected, it defines the name of a publisher that must be present in the certificate (and also requires that the certificate is valid). If an Add Admin token is protected by this criteria, it can be leveraged by a malicious actor to achieve Elevation of Privileges from standard user to administrator.
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 confidenceBeyondTrust Privilege Management for Windows versions through 5.6 contains an elevation of privilege vulnerability when publisher criteria is used to protect Add Admin tokens. A malicious standard user can bypass the publisher validation requirement to gain administrator privileges, exploiting the fact that the certificate validation for the publisher name can be subverted.
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<= 5.6CVSS 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
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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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Confirm BeyondTrust Privilege Management for Windows is installedCheck the system for the presence of BeyondTrust Privilege Management for Windows software using standard software inventory methods (such as checking Add/Remove Programs, program files directory, or system information tools)Affected if The software is installed on the system
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Identify the installed versionLocate and read the version information for BeyondTrust Privilege Management for Windows - this is typically available in the program's about section, installation directory, or system registryAffected if The installed version is 5.6 or any earlier version (versions through 5.6 are affected)
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Check if publisher criteria is configured for Add Admin tokensExamine the BeyondTrust Privilege Management policy or configuration settings to determine whether publisher criteria is being used to protect Add Admin tokens. This is typically found in the application control or privilege management policy settings.Affected if Publisher criteria is actively used to protect Add Admin tokens in the current configuration
A system is affected if BeyondTrust Privilege Management for Windows version 5.6 or earlier is installed AND publisher criteria is configured for Add Admin token protection.
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 to BeyondTrust Privilege Management for Windows version 5.7 or later. As a compensating control, avoid relying solely on publisher criteria for Add Admin token protection until the upgrade is applied.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-12614 — 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-2020-12614 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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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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