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Incorrect Privilege AssignmentWeakness · CWE-266

CVE-2025-0131

HIGH · 7.1 CVSS v4.0 Published 2025-05-14
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
76/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges 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
An incorrect privilege management vulnerability in the OPSWAT MetaDefender Endpoint Security SDK used by 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 also successfully exploits 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 · high confidence

A local privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the OPSWAT MetaDefender Endpoint Security SDK bundled with Palo Alto Networks GlobalProtect for Windows. An authenticated local non-administrative user can potentially escalate to NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM by exploiting an incorrect privilege management flaw combined with a race condition during SDK operation.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied patch/update to GlobalProtect once released by Palo Alto Networks; until then, monitor for suspicious processes and restrict local user access to sensitive system resources.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

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
Low
Privileges
Low
Authentication
None
User interaction
None
Scope
X

CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:N/R:U/V:D/RE:X/U:Amber

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 for Windows is installed
    Open Programs and Features (appwiz.cpl) or check C:\Program Files\Palo Alto Networks\GlobalProtect for the presence of GlobalProtect installation
    Affected if GlobalProtect for Windows is not installed on the system
  2. Determine the installed GlobalProtect version
    Right-click the GlobalProtect icon in the system tray and select About, or check the version in Programs and Features, or examine the version property of pan-gp.exe in the installation directory
    Affected if The installed version falls within the vulnerable version range for CVE-2025-0131 (compare your version against the affected ranges published in the CVE advisory)
  3. Check for OPSWAT MetaDefender SDK component
    Look for the presence of OPSWAT-related files or services in the GlobalProtect installation directory (typically C:\Program Files\Palo Alto Networks\GlobalProtect\) or check for odsec or similar OPSWAT-related processes in Task Manager
    Affected if The OPSWAT MetaDefender SDK component is bundled and running with GlobalProtect
  4. Inspect the GlobalProtect service configuration
    Open Services (services.msc), locate the GlobalProtect service, right-click and select Properties, then check the Log On account and verify if it runs with elevated privileges
    Affected if The service runs under a high-privilege account (such as Local System or a specific service account) and the version is vulnerable
  5. Review user account privileges on the system
    Open Computer Management > Local Users and Groups > Users, or run 'whoami /all' in command prompt, to identify if there are unprivileged local users present on the system
    Affected if Unprivileged local authenticated users exist on the system who could potentially trigger the vulnerability

The system is affected by CVE-2025-0131 if GlobalProtect for Windows is installed with a version that falls within the vulnerable range and the OPSWAT MetaDefender SDK component is present, allowing a local non-administrative user to potentially escalate privileges to NT AUTHORITY\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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied patch/update to GlobalProtect once released by Palo Alto Networks; until then, monitor for suspicious processes and restrict local user access to sensitive system resources.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,040
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2025-0131 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
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