CVE-2026-33430

Briefcase: Windows MSI Installer Privilege Escalation via Insecure Directory Permissions

State
Published
Severity
7.3 High
Published
Mar 26, 2026
Updated
Apr 1, 2026
Reserved
Mar 19, 2026

Read the record on cve.org

Description

Briefcase is a tool for converting a Python project into a standalone native application. Starting in version 0.3.0 and prior to version 0.3.26, if a developer uses Briefcase to produce an Windows MSI installer for a project, and that project is installed for All Users (i.e., per-machine scope), the installation process creates an directory that inherits all the permissions of the parent directory. Depending on the location chosen by the installing user, this may allow a low privilege but authenticated user to replace or modify the binaries installed by the application. If an administrator then runs the altered binary, the binary will run with elevated privileges. The problem is caused by the template used to generate the WXS file for Windows projects. It was fixed in the templates used in Briefcase 0.3.26, 0.4.0, and 0.4.1. Re-running `briefcase create` on your Briefcase project will result in the updated templates being used. As a workaround, the patch can be added to any existing Briefcase .wxs file generated by Briefcase 0.3.24 or later.

Scores

CVSSScoreVectorSource
3.17.3 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HGitHub_M

Weaknesses

  • CWE-732 Incorrect Permission Assignment for Critical Resource

Affected Products

ProductVersions
briefcasebeeware
  • >= 0.3.0, < 0.3.26Affected

References

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