CODESYS Installer Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

A privilege escalation vulnerability has been identified in the CODESYS Installer, affecting versions prior to 2.6.1.0. This vulnerability arises from a time-of-check to time-of-use (TOCTOU) race condition, allowing a low-privileged local attacker to replace the verified downloaded setup before it is executed. The exploitation takes advantage of the fact that the update process runs with administrator privileges, potentially leading to the execution of malicious applications with elevated rights. The vulnerability requires a legitimate user to confirm a self-update prompt or to initiate the installation of a CODESYS Development System.

Impact

Exploitation of this vulnerability can lead to unauthorized privilege escalation on the host system.

Remediation

Users are advised to update the CODESYS Installer to version 2.6.1.0. The updated installer can be downloaded from the CODESYS Store. Alternatively, CODESYS Development System version 3.5.22.0 or newer can be installed, which includes the updated CODESYS Installer.