CVE-2020-12615
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. When adding the Add Admin token to a process, and specifying that it runs at medium integrity with the user owning the process, this security token can be stolen and applied to arbitrary processes.
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 confidenceA token theft vulnerability in BeyondTrust Privilege Management for Windows through version 5.6 allows an attacker to steal the Add Admin security token when it's configured to run at medium integrity under the user owning the process, then apply that token to arbitrary processes for privilege escalation.
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< 5.6= 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 Windows registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\ or look for the product in Add/Remove Programs. The application may install to C:\Program Files\BeyondTrust\Privilege Management or similar paths.Affected if The product is present on the system
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Identify the installed version of BeyondTrust Privilege Management for WindowsCheck the version in the registry under the Uninstall key for the product, or right-click the main executable (often named pbensrv.exe, pbengine.exe, or similar) and view Properties > Details for the File Version.Affected if The installed version is less than 5.6 or exactly equals 5.6
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Inspect the Add Admin security token configurationOpen the Privilege Management management console or policy configuration and locate the Add Admin security token settings. Look for the token configuration that specifies it runs at medium integrity under the user owning the process.Affected if The Add Admin token is configured to run at medium integrity under the user context (rather than at high/system integrity)
You are affected if BeyondTrust Privilege Management for Windows is installed with version 5.6 or earlier AND the Add Admin security token is configured to run at medium integrity under the user context.
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.
dbcve · scoped5.6
Upgrade BeyondTrust Privilege Management for Windows to a version beyond 5.6 that addresses this token handling vulnerability.
Privilege Management for Windows 5.6.1 or later
- 1. Identify the current Privilege Management for Windows version by checking About or the installed version in Programs and Features
- 2. Download the fixed version of Privilege Management for Windows from the BeyondTrust customer portal or official downloads page
- 3. Create a backup of the current configuration if possible
- 4. Install the updated version following BeyondTrust's standard upgrade procedures
- 5. Verify the installation completed successfully and the service is running
- 6. Test that the Add Admin token functionality works correctly with the security controls in place
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,472.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-12615 — 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-2020-12615 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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