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CVE-2024-54131

Kolide Agent Privilege Escalation (Windows, Versions >= 1.5.3, < 1.12.3)

7.3 HighFix available

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.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges needed
Low
User interaction
None

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
Low

Exploit likelihood

0.21%Up 0.2 points since Dec 4, 2024
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

CVE List Score used 7.3

Kolide Agent Privilege Escalation (Windows, Versions >= 1.5.3, < 1.12.3)

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.

Record
CVE-2024-54131
CVSS 4.0
7.3 HighCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Weakness
CWE-276, CWE-456
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2024-3434 7.3

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.

Record
EUVD-2024-3434
CVSS 4.0
7.3 HighCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Updated
2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-66q9-2rvx-qfj5 7.3

Kolide Agent Privilege Escalation (Windows, Versions >= 1.5.3, < 1.12.3)

An implementation bug in the Kolide Agent (known as launcher) allows for local privilege escalation to the SYSTEM user on Windows 10 and 11. Impacted versions include versions >= 1.5.3 and the fix has been released in 1.12.3.

The bug was introduced in version 1.5.3 when launcher started storing upgraded binaries in the ProgramData directory (#1510). 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.

This issue was found by Bryan Alexander of Atredis Partners and responsibly reported through the Kolide bug bounty program. Kolide made the appropriate changes and released a fix in version 1.12.3 of the launcher package.

Record
GHSA-66q9-2rvx-qfj5
CVSS 4.0
7.3 HighCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Weakness
CWE-276, CWE-456
Updated
2026-11-02
NVD 7.3

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.

Record
CVE-2024-54131
CVSS 4.0
7.3 HighCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/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:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
Weakness
CWE-276, CWE-456
Updated
2026-11-02
OSV 7.3

Kolide Agent Privilege Escalation (Windows, Versions >= 1.5.3, < 1.12.3)

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.

Record
CVE-2024-54131
CVSS 4.0
7.3 HighCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Weakness
CWE-276, CWE-456
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVGHSA-66q9-2rvx-qfj5 7.3

Kolide Agent Privilege Escalation (Windows, Versions >= 1.5.3, < 1.12.3)

An implementation bug in the Kolide Agent (known as launcher) allows for local privilege escalation to the SYSTEM user on Windows 10 and 11. Impacted versions include versions >= 1.5.3 and the fix has been released in 1.12.3.

The bug was introduced in version 1.5.3 when launcher started storing upgraded binaries in the ProgramData directory (#1510). 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.

This issue was found by Bryan Alexander of Atredis Partners and responsibly reported through the Kolide bug bounty program. Kolide made the appropriate changes and released a fix in version 1.12.3 of the launcher package.

Record
GHSA-66q9-2rvx-qfj5
CVSS 4.0
7.3 HighCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Weakness
CWE-276, CWE-456
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVGO-2024-3308 No score

Kolide Agent Privilege Escalation (Windows, Versions >= 1.5.3, < 1.12.3) in github.com/kolide/launcher

Kolide Agent Privilege Escalation (Windows, Versions >= 1.5.3, < 1.12.3) in github.com/kolide/launcher

Record
GO-2024-3308
Updated
2026-11-02
OSVopenSUSE-SU-2024:14567-1 No score

govulncheck-vulndb-0.0.20241209T183251-1.1 on GA media

These are all security issues fixed in the govulncheck-vulndb-0.0.20241209T183251-1.1 package on the GA media of openSUSE Tumbleweed.

Record
openSUSE-SU-2024:14567-1
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

Affected packages

Affected packages
PackageAffectedFixed
github.com/kolide/launcher
Go
1.5.3 up to 1.12.3
1.12.3
govulncheck-vulndb
openSUSE:Tumbleweed
From an advisory covering 21 CVEs
before 0.0.20241209T183251-1.1
0.0.20241209T183251-1.1

History

History
RecordedChangedSources
affected, facts
aliases, publishedEUVD
first indexedCVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD, OSV

Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.

In short

CVE-2024-54131 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.3) in Kolide Launcher, published December 3, 2024. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.21%, the 11th percentile. Fixed in github.com/kolide/launcher 1.12.3.

References

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