Everyone-Group Write Permissions in Rockwell ControlFLASH Allow Local Code Execution
AI analysis
The ControlFLASH installer grants write permissions to the Windows 'Everyone' group on the product's installation directory, leaving that directory writable by any local account. An attacker who already has low-privileged access to the machine can plant or modify files in the directory, and when a user launches ControlFLASH the attacker's code runs at that logged-in user's permission level (user interaction is required). This gives the attacker arbitrary code execution of their choosing on the target machine, though within the privileges of the launching user rather than full system-level escalation. Any Windows host where ControlFLASH was installed with these default permissions is affected, typically engineering or maintenance workstations in Rockwell Automation/Allen-Bradley environments. There is no known public proof-of-concept, the issue is not in CISA's KEV catalog, and EPSS predicts only a 0.1% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.
What to do: Check Rockwell Automation's security advisory for the affected ControlFLASH versions and fixed release, and update the installer/software when available; as an interim measure, audit the ACLs on the ControlFLASH installation directory (e.g., with icacls) and remove write access for the Everyone group, restricting write permissions to administrators. Identify workstations where ControlFLASH is installed, limit local logon to trusted accounts, and monitor the installation directory for unexpected or modified files.
Affected
| Rockwell Automation ControlFLASH | — |
Estimated exposure
large≈100,000+ engineering/maintenance workstations worldwide (order-of-magnitude estimate) — No official install counts are published, but ControlFLASH is Rockwell Automation's standard firmware-update utility commonly installed on engineering and maintenance PCs across the large Allen-Bradley Logix installed base, supporting an…
Order-of-magnitude estimate by the model from install counts, market share and public scan data it knows; verify before quoting.
Description
A security issue exists within ControlFLASH™, where the installer grants write permissions to the "Everyone" group on a product installation directory. This could allow arbitrary code execution, resulting in an attacker being given the ability to run any commands or code of the attacker's choice on a target machine at the logged-in user's permission level.