CVE-2020-13162

Exp

A time-of-check time-of-use vulnerability in PulseSecureService.exe in Pulse Secure Client versions prior to 9.1.6 down to 5.3 R70 for Windows (which runs as NT AUTHORITY/SYSTEM) allows unprivileged users to run a Microsoft Installer executable with elevated privileges.

Published: 2020-06-16 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2020-13162 is rated High Exploit Risk (61.4/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.79%). 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2020-13162

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2020-13162

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.35% 0.79% +0.45%
2 2025-03-30 2.10% 0.35% -1.75%
3 2025-03-29 — 2.10% —

Full EPSS history (11 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-13162

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.0 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.0 5.9 [email protected]
7.0 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.0 5.9 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
6.9 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
 3.4 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-13162

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-13162

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 5.3 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:5.3:r1.0:*:*:*:windows:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 5.3 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:5.3:r1.1:*:*:*:windows:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 5.3 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:5.3:r2.0:*:*:*:windows:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 5.3 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:5.3:r3.0:*:*:*:windows:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 5.3 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:5.3:r4.1:*:*:*:windows:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 5.3 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:5.3:r4.2:*:*:*:windows:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 5.3 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:5.3:r5.0:*:*:*:windows:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 5.3 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:5.3:r5.2:*:*:*:windows:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 5.3 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:5.3:r6.0:*:*:*:windows:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 5.3 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:5.3:r7.0:*:*:*:windows:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 9.0 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:9.0:r1.0:*:*:*:windows:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 9.0 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:9.0:r2:*:*:*:windows:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 9.0 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:9.0:r2.1:*:*:*:windows:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 9.0 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:9.0:r3:*:*:*:windows:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 9.0 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:9.0:r3.2:*:*:*:windows:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 9.0 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:9.0:r4:*:*:*:windows:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 9.0 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:9.0:r4.0:*:*:*:windows:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 9.0 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:9.0:r5.0:*:*:*:windows:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 9.0 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:9.0:r6.0:*:*:*:windows:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:9.1:r1.0:*:*:*:windows:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:9.1:r2.0:*:*:*:windows:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:9.1:r3.0:*:*:*:windows:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:9.1:r3.1:*:*:*:windows:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:9.1:r4.0:*:*:*:windows:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:9.1:r4.1:*:*:*:windows:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:9.1:r4.2:*:*:*:windows:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:9.1:r5.0:*:*:*:windows:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:9.1:r6.0:*:*:*:windows:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:9.1:r7.0:*:*:*:windows:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_installer_service 8.3 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_installer_service:8.3:*:*:*:*:windows:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_installer_service 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_installer_service:9.1:*:*:*:*:windows:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_installer_service 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_installer_service:9.1:r5.0:*:*:*:windows:*:*

References for CVE-2020-13162

URL Tags
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/158117/Pulse-Secure-Client-For-Windows-Local-Privilege-Escalation.html Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/159065/Pulse-Secure-Windows-Client-Privilege-Escalation.html Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/Jun/25 Mailing List Third Party Advisory
http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2020/Sep/15 Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://kb.pulsesecure.net/?atype=sa Vendor Advisory
https://kb.pulsesecure.net/articles/Pulse_Security_Advisories/SA44503 Vendor Advisory
https://twitter.com/gsepcali/status/1262551597990711296 Third Party Advisory
https://twitter.com/gsepcali/status/1272927080909623297 Third Party Advisory
https://twitter.com/sepcali/status/1262551597990711296 Third Party Advisory
https://www.redtimmy.com/privilege-escalation/pulse-secure-client-for-windows-9-1-6-toctou-privilege-escalation-cve-2020-13162/ Exploit Third Party Advisory
cvelogic Threat Intelligence