CVE-2020-5144
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 · uneditedSonicWall Global VPN client version 4.10.4.0314 and earlier allows unprivileged windows user to elevate privileges to SYSTEM through loaded process hijacking vulnerability.
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 confidenceSonicWall Global VPN client versions 4.10.4.0314 and earlier contain a process hijacking vulnerability allowing unprivileged Windows users to elevate privileges to SYSTEM. The vulnerability exploits how the client loads processes, likely through DLL search order hijacking or similar mechanism.
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<= 4.10.4.0314CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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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Verify SonicWall Global VPN client installationOpen Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features, or run 'Get-WmiObject -Class Win32_Product' in PowerShell, and look for entries containing 'SonicWall Global VPN' or 'SonicWall VPN Client'. Alternatively, check for the client executable at typical installation paths such as C:\Program Files\SonicWall\Global VPN Client\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\SonicWall\Global VPN Client\Affected if The software is installed on the system
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Determine installed versionRight-click the SonicWall VPN client executable (typically named 'SonicWall Global VPN Client.exe' or similar) in the installation directory, select Properties, then go to the Details tab to view the File Version. Alternatively, run 'Get-ItemProperty' on the executable in PowerShell to retrieve version informationAffected if The reported version is 4.10.4.0314 or earlier, or if no version is displayed and the product matches the name in affected versions
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Check if vulnerable service runs with elevated privilegesOpen Services.msc, locate any SonicWall-related services (typically named 'SonicWall VPN Client' or similar), right-click and select Properties, then examine the 'Log on as' account. Also check the client process privileges when actively connected by opening Task Manager, right-clicking the client process, and selecting 'Run as different user' verificationAffected if The service runs under SYSTEM, LocalSystem, or an administrative account rather than a restricted user account
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Inspect client process behavior during operationWith the VPN client running, open Process Explorer (from Sysinternals), locate the SonicWall client processes, right-click and view Properties > Image. Check for loaded DLLs and verify if any are loaded from user-writable directories (such as the user's temp folder or working directory) rather than only from secure system pathsAffected if DLLs are being loaded from directories with weak access controls or user-writable locations indicating potential DLL search order hijacking exposure
The system is affected if SonicWall Global VPN Client version 4.10.4.0314 or earlier is installed and the client or its associated services run with elevated SYSTEM or administrative privileges.
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 dataUpdate SonicWall Global VPN client to a version newer than 4.10.4.0314 once the vendor releases a patch. Verify that the VPN client runs with appropriate least-privilege principles and monitor for post-update anomalies.
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- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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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-2020-5144 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
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