dbcve.org
GlobalprotectApplication · Paloaltonetworks

CVE-2025-0120

HIGH · 7.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-04-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.0.12 / 6.2.7-1077 or later.
See remediation →
72/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click

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 · unedited
A vulnerability with a privilege management mechanism in the Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect™ app on Windows devices allows a locally authenticated non-administrative Windows user to escalate their privileges to NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM. However, execution requires that the local user can also successfully exploit a race condition, which makes this vulnerability difficult to exploit.

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 confidence

Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect app on Windows contains a privilege management flaw allowing locally authenticated non-administrative users to escalate privileges to NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM by exploiting a race condition in the privilege handling mechanism.

MitigationApply the vendor-provided patch for GlobalProtect when available; until then, limit local user access and monitor for suspicious process behavior.

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
Affected:>= 6.0.0, < 6.0.12>= 6.1.0, < 6.2.7-1077>= 6.3.0, < 6.3.3

CVSS 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
High
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify GlobalProtect is installed
    Open Control Panel > Programs and Features, or run: Get-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\*' | Where-Object {$_.DisplayName -like '*GlobalProtect*'}
    Affected if GlobalProtect appears in the installed programs list
  2. Determine installed GlobalProtect version
    Run: (Get-Item 'C:\Program Files\Palo Alto Networks\GlobalProtect\PanGPS.exe').VersionInfo.FileVersion, or check registry: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Palo Alto Networks\GlobalProtect\Version
    Affected if Version is returned and matches an affected range
  3. Compare version against affected ranges
    Compare your installed version number to: 6.0.0 through 6.0.11.x, 6.1.0 through 6.2.7-1076, or 6.3.0 through 6.3.2.x
    Affected if Version falls within any of these ranges: >=6.0.0 and <6.0.12, or >=6.1.0 and <6.2.7-1077, or >=6.3.0 and <6.3.3
  4. Confirm user context of exploitation
    Identify if the user exploiting this would be a local authenticated non-administrative user: run 'whoami /groups' and verify the user is not a member of Administrators group
    Affected if The user exploiting this is a local user without administrator privileges, and the GlobalProtect service is running

You are affected if GlobalProtect is installed with a version matching the affected ranges and a non-administrative local user account exists on the system.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 6.0.12 / 6.2.7-1077 / 6.3.3 or later
Fixed in 6.0.126.2.7-10776.3.3
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor-provided patch for GlobalProtect when available; until then, limit local user access and monitor for suspicious process behavior.

Recommended fix High confidence

GlobalProtect 6.0.12 or later; 6.2.7-1077 or later; 6.3.3 or later (depending on current branch)

  1. 1. Identify the current GlobalProtect version by checking Help > About in the GlobalProtect app or via Windows Programs and Features
  2. 2. Determine which version branch your current installation belongs to (6.0.x, 6.1.x, or 6.3.x)
  3. 3. For GlobalProtect 6.0.x versions: upgrade to version 6.0.12 or later
  4. 4. For GlobalProtect 6.1.x versions: upgrade to version 6.2.7-1077 or later
  5. 5. For GlobalProtect 6.3.x versions: upgrade to version 6.3.3 or later
  6. 6. Download the appropriate updated installer from the Palo Alto Networks Customer Support Portal
  7. 7. Run the installer with administrator privileges to apply the update
  8. 8. Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the GlobalProtect version in Help > About

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Globalprotect Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,660
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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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-0120 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data