CVE-2020-15264 (Other, published 2020-10-20T21:15Z)
Description: value: The Boxstarter installer before version 2.13.0 configures C:\ProgramData\Boxstarter to be in the system-wide PATH environment variable. However, this directory is writable by normal, unprivileged users. To exploit the vulnerability, place a DLL in this directory that a privileged service is looking for. For example, WptsExtensions.dll When Windows starts, it'll execute the code in DllMain() with SYSTEM privileges. Any unprivileged user can execute code with SYSTEM privileges. The issue is fixed in version 3.13.0
Severity: HIGH (CVSS v3 base score: 7.8)
Weakness: CWE-668 \u2014 Exposure of Resource to Wrong Sphere
The product exposes a resource to the wrong control sphere, providing unintended actors with inappropriate access to the resource.
Repository: https://github.com/chocolatey/boxstarter
Files changed:
BuildScripts/setup.ps1
Commit message: Merge pull request from GHSA-rpgx-h675-r3jf

* mitigate possible privilege escalation

* code cleanup

Vulnerable code:
    if(!(test-Path $boxstarterPath)){
        mkdir $boxstarterPath
    $packagePath=Join-Path $boxstarterPath BuildPackages
    if(!(test-Path $packagePath)){
        mkdir $packagePath
    foreach($ModulePath in (Get-ChildItem $here | Where-Object { $_.PSIsContainer })){
        $target=Join-Path $boxstarterPath $modulePath.BaseName
        if(test-Path $target){
            mkdir $startMenu

Fixed code:

<#
.SYNOPSIS
    test if current session/identity is elevated 
    (a.k.a. check if we've got admin privileges)
#>
function Test-Admin {
    $identity = [System.Security.Principal.WindowsIdentity]::GetCurrent()
    $principal = New-Object System.Security.Principal.WindowsPrincipal( $identity )
    return $principal.IsInRole( [System.Security.Principal.WindowsBuiltInRole]::Administrator )
}

<#
.SYNOPSIS
    get name of 'WellKnownSidType' in the current user's system locale
#>
function Get-LocalizedWellKnownPrincipalName {
    param (
        [Parameter(Mandatory = $true)]
        [Security.Principal.WellKnownSidType] $WellKnownSidType
    )
    $sid = New-Object -TypeName 'System.Security.Principal.SecurityIdentifier' -ArgumentList @($WellKnownSidType, $null)
    $account = $sid.Translate([Security.Principal.NTAccount])

    return $account.Value
}

<#
.SYNOPSIS
    ensure a given folder is only writeable by administrative users

.NOTES
    we need to do this in order to mitigate privilege escalation attacks!
    
    Attack Vector 1: Boxstarter folders are added to PATH, therefore they must be protected in a way so 
    that a random user may not put arbitrary files/dlls in these folders.
    (files may be replaces with hijacked/malicious ones)
    
    Attack Vector 2: 'BuildPackages' contains Boxstarter Packages that may be installed after system reboots.
    If a user would be able to modify those packages, it would be easy to run arbitrary PowerShell code with 
    SYSTEM privileges.
    
    see Ensure-Permissions 
    https://github.com/chocolatey/choco/blob/master/nuget/chocolatey/tools/chocolateysetup.psm1
#>
function Ensure-Permissions {
    [CmdletBinding()]
    param(
        [string]$folder
    )
    Write-Debug "Ensure-Permissions"

    $currentEA = $ErrorActionPreference
    $ErrorActionPreference = 'Stop'
    try {
        # get current acl
        $acl = (Get-Item $folder).GetAccessControl('Access,Owner')

        Write-Debug "Removing existing permissions."
        $acl.Access | ForEach-Object {
            Write-Debug "Remove '$($_.FileSystemRights)' for user '$($_.IdentityReference)'"
            $acl.RemoveAccessRuleAll($_) 
        }

        $inheritanceFlags = ([Security.AccessControl.InheritanceFlags]::ContainerInherit -bor [Security.AccessControl.InheritanceFlags]::ObjectInherit)
        $propagationFlags = [Security.AccessControl.PropagationFlags]::None

        $rightsFullControl = [Security.AccessControl.FileSystemRights]::FullControl
        $rightsReadExecute = [Security.AccessControl.FileSystemRights]::ReadAndExecute

        Write-Output "Restricting write permissions of '$folder' to Administrators"
        $builtinAdmins = Get-LocalizedWellKnownPrincipalName -WellKnownSidType ([Security.Principal.WellKnownSidType]::BuiltinAdministratorsSid)
        $adminsAccessRule = New-Object System.Security.AccessControl.FileSystemAccessRule($builtinAdmins, $rightsFullControl, $inheritanceFlags, $propagationFlags, "Allow")
        $acl.SetAccessRule($adminsAccessRule)
        $localSystem = Get-LocalizedWellKnownPrincipalName -WellKnownSidType ([Security.Principal.WellKnownSidType]::LocalSystemSid)
        $localSystemAccessRule = New-Object System.Security.AccessControl.FileSystemAccessRule($localSystem, $rightsFullControl, $inheritanceFlags, $propagationFlags, "Allow")
        $acl.SetAccessRule($localSystemAccessRule)
        $builtinUsers = Get-LocalizedWellKnownPrincipalName -WellKnownSidType ([Security.Principal.WellKnownSidType]::BuiltinUsersSid)
        $usersAccessRule = New-Object System.Security.AccessControl.FileSystemAccessRule($builtinUsers, $rightsReadExecute, $inheritanceFlags, $propagationFlags, "Allow")
        $acl.SetAccessRule($usersAccessRule)

        Write-Debug "Set Owner to Administrators"
        $builtinAdminsSid = New-Object System.Security.Principal.SecurityIdentifier([Security.Principal.WellKnownSidType]::BuiltinAdministratorsSid, $null)
        $acl.SetOwner($builtinAdminsSid)

        Write-Debug "Removing inheritance with no copy"
        $acl.SetAccessRuleProtection($true, $false)

        # enact the changes against the actual
        (Get-Item $folder).SetAccessControl($acl)

    }
    catch {
        Write-Warning $_.Exception
        Write-Warning "Not able to set permissions for $folder."
    }
    $ErrorActionPreference = $currentEA
}


    if (!(Test-Admin)) {
        throw "Installation of Boxstarter requires Administrative permissions. Please run from elevated prompt."
    }

    if (!(test-Path $boxstarterPath)) {
        New-Item -ItemType Directory $boxstarterPath | Out-Null
    $packagePath = Join-Path $boxstarterPath BuildPackages
    if (!(test-Path $packagePath)) {
        New-Item -ItemType Directory $packagePath | Out-Null
    foreach ($ModulePath in (Get-ChildItem $here | Where-Object { $_.PSIsContainer })) {
        $target = Join-Path $boxstarterPath $modulePath.BaseName
        if (test-Path $target) {
    # set permissions to mitigate possible privilege escalation
    Ensure-Permissions -folder $boxstarterPath

            New-Item -ItemType Directory $startMenu | Out-Null