Palo Alto Networks Security Advisories / CVE-2025-0117

CVE-2025-0117 GlobalProtect App: Local Privilege Escalation (PE) Vulnerability

Description

A reliance on untrusted input for a security decision in the GlobalProtect app on Windows devices potentially enables a locally authenticated non-administrative Windows user to escalate their privileges to NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM.

GlobalProtect App on macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, Chrome OS and GlobalProtect UWP App are not affected.

Product Status

Versions	Affected	Unaffected
GlobalProtect App	None on iOS None on Android None on Chrome OS None on macOS	All on iOS All on Android All on Chrome OS All on macOS
GlobalProtect App 6.3	< 6.3.3 on Windows	>= 6.3.3 on Windows (ETA: End of April 2025)*
GlobalProtect App 6.2	< 6.2.6 on Windows	>= 6.2.6 on Windows*
GlobalProtect App 6.1	All on Windows	None on Windows
GlobalProtect App 6.0	All on Windows	None on Windows (Fix version ETA: May 2025)
GlobalProtect UWP App	None	All

* In addition to the software updates listed above, additional steps are required to protect against this vulnerability. See the Solution section for full details.

Required Configuration for Exposure

No special configuration is required to be vulnerable to this issue.

Severity: MEDIUM, Suggested Urgency: MODERATE

A local Windows user (or malware) with non-administrative rights elevates their privileges to NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM.
MEDIUM - CVSS-BT: 4.3 /CVSS-B: 7.1 (CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:P/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:U/AU:N/R:U/V:D/RE:M/U:Amber)

Exploitation Status

Palo Alto Networks is not aware of any malicious exploitation of this issue.

Weakness Type and Impact

CWE-807 Reliance on Untrusted Inputs in a Security Decision

CAPEC-233 Privilege Escalation

Solution

Version	Suggested Solution
GlobalProtect App 6.3 on Windows	Upgrade to 6.3.3 or later*
GlobalProtect App 6.2 on Windows	Upgrade to 6.2.6 or later*
GlobalProtect App 6.1 on Windows	Upgrade to 6.2.6 or later or upgrade to 6.3.3 or later*
GlobalProtect App 6.0 on Windows	Upgrade to 6.2.6 or later or upgrade to 6.3.3 or later*
GlobalProtect App on Linux	No action needed
GlobalProtect App on macOS	No action needed
GlobalProtect App on iOS	No action needed
GlobalProtect App on Android	No action needed
GlobalProtect UWP App	No action needed

* In addition to the software updates listed above, additional steps are required to protect against this vulnerability as described below:

Solution for new and existing GlobalProtect app installation on Windows

You can use your endpoint mobile device management (MDM) tools to apply the following changes:

1. Install a fixed version of the GlobalProtect app.
   
2. Update the following registry key with the specified value (uses the REG_SZ type):
   [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Palo Alto Networks\GlobalProtect\Settings]
   "check-communication"="yes"
3. Restart the operating system to apply this registry change.
   

Alternate solution for new GlobalProtect app installation on Windows

Install the GlobalProtect app with the pre-deployment key CHECKCOMM set to "yes":

msiexec.exe /i GlobalProtect64.msi CHECKCOMM="yes"

Note: This command adds the registry value from the previous solution instructions—no additional MSI options are needed.

Workarounds and Mitigations

No workaround or mitigation is available.

Acknowledgments

CPEs

Timeline