CVE-2022-24139 in Advanced System Care
Summary
by MITRE • 07/06/2022
In IOBit Advanced System Care (AscService.exe) 15, an attacker with SEImpersonatePrivilege can create a named pipe with the same name as one of ASCService's named pipes. ASCService first tries to connect before trying to create the named pipes, because of that during login the service will try to connect to the attacker which will lead to either escalation of privileges (through token manipulation and ImpersonateNamedPipeClient() ) from ADMIN -> SYSTEM or from Local ADMIN-> Domain ADMIN depending on the user and named pipe that is used.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/19/2022
CVE-2022-24139 represents a critical privilege escalation vulnerability in IOBit Advanced System Care version 15 where the AscService.exe process demonstrates insecure named pipe handling behavior. The vulnerability stems from the service's improper order of operations when managing named pipes, specifically attempting to connect to existing pipes before creating new ones. This design flaw creates a window of opportunity for attackers who possess the SEImpersonatePrivilege to manipulate the service's behavior through malicious named pipe creation.
The technical exploitation occurs through a race condition and improper privilege validation within the service's named pipe management logic. When ASCService.exe attempts to establish communication through named pipes during system login processes, it first attempts connection to existing pipes rather than creating new ones with proper access controls. This sequence allows an attacker with sufficient privileges to register a malicious named pipe with the same name as legitimate service pipes, effectively intercepting the service's intended communication channels. The vulnerability specifically leverages Windows named pipe impersonation mechanisms, enabling attackers to leverage the service's elevated privileges for privilege escalation.
This vulnerability directly maps to CWE-362: Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization and CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management within the Common Weakness Enumeration framework. The attack vector aligns with ATT&CK technique T1068: Exploitation for Privilege Escalation, specifically targeting the Windows service privilege escalation pathways. The operational impact extends beyond simple privilege escalation to potentially enable domain-wide compromise when the service runs under domain administrator credentials, allowing attackers to move laterally through the network infrastructure.
The security implications are severe given that ASCService.exe typically operates with high privileges to perform system maintenance tasks, making it an attractive target for attackers seeking SYSTEM-level access. The vulnerability affects the authentication and authorization mechanisms within the service's named pipe communication model, creating a persistent backdoor opportunity for attackers who can maintain their malicious pipe creation capability across system sessions. Organizations running IOBit Advanced System Care version 15 should immediately apply vendor patches, implement network monitoring for unusual named pipe creation patterns, and review service account permissions to limit the potential impact of such privilege escalation attacks.
Mitigation strategies should focus on both immediate remediation through vendor updates and long-term security hardening. System administrators should ensure that the IOBit Advanced System Care service runs with minimal required privileges and that named pipe creation permissions are properly restricted. Network segmentation and monitoring of named pipe activity can help detect exploitation attempts, while regular security assessments should verify that service processes do not expose unnecessary privileged operations. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper resource management and privilege validation in Windows service implementations, particularly when dealing with inter-process communication mechanisms that can be manipulated to gain elevated system access.