Description

An improper privilege management vulnerability (CWE-269) exists in the command shell of Wind River VxWorks 7 all versions up to 26.09. when configured to enforce per-user command privileges. Under certain shell operations, a command may be evaluated without the privilege check that is normally applied, allowing an authenticated user with limited privileges to execute commands they are not authorized to run. Successful exploitation can result in privilege escalation, with impact to the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected device. Fixed in 26.09

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "8.8",
  "pubDate": "2026-10-01T18:17:14.687Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-10-01T18:17:14.687Z",
  "executiveSummary": "A critical improper privilege management vulnerability (CWE-269) has been identified within the command shell component of Wind River VxWorks 7, affecting all versions up to 26.09.\nThe vulnerability resides in the shell's authorization logic, where specific command sequences or operations fail to invoke the necessary security checks for per-user privilege validation.\nThis flaw allows an authenticated user with restricted permissions to bypass existing security policies and execute unauthorized, high-privilege commands.\nSuccessful exploitation facilitates vertical privilege escalation, granting the attacker control over system operations, which compromises the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the target device.\nThe exploitation process requires an authenticated session, but does not necessitate elevated initial access, making it a significant risk in environments where command-line access is provided to lower-privileged users.\nWind River has addressed this issue in version 26.09, and immediate updates are recommended to mitigate the risk of unauthorized system administration.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability originates from a logical inconsistency in the Wind River VxWorks 7 command shell's privilege enforcement engine. When the system is explicitly configured to enforce granular per-user command privileges, the shell is expected to validate the user's authorization token against a defined access control list (ACL) or privilege matrix before executing any requested operation.\nUnder certain conditions—specifically during the parsing and evaluation of specific shell operations—the command dispatcher fails to invoke the mandatory security validation routine. This occurs because the internal control flow bypasses the privilege-check hook when processing specific command syntax or execution contexts.\nThe attack flow requires an adversary to be authenticated to the device shell. Upon gaining access, the attacker interacts with the shell environment to trigger the vulnerable command path. By supplying inputs that lead the shell's parser into the identified insecure state, the attacker can submit arbitrary commands that would normally trigger a 'permission denied' response.\nBecause the shell fails to perform the identity-to-privilege mapping at the point of execution, the command is processed within the execution context of the shell session with elevated permissions. This effectively results in a sandbox escape or privilege escalation, as the security subsystem incorrectly assumes the command is authorized due to the missing check.\nThe vulnerability affects all VxWorks 7 iterations prior to 26.09. The technical impact is significant; it grants unauthorized actors the ability to manipulate system configuration, access sensitive memory regions, or alter system behavior without proper authentication, directly undermining the device's hardened security stance.\nPost-exploitation, an attacker can maintain persistence, exfiltrate data, or disrupt device operations, as the privilege escalation allows the execution of administrative commands and diagnostic tools that are typically restricted to privileged user roles. No specific memory corruption or external network-facing exploit is strictly required, provided the attacker has legitimate shell access, making this a logical bypass that is difficult to detect through traditional signature-based monitoring."
}