CVE-2026-33430
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.
Does this matter?
High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (0.13%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit.
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.
- CVSS 3.1
- 7.3 HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- EPSS
- 0.13% probability · 3th percentile
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Weakness
- CWE-732
- Affected
- beeware/briefcase
- Source
- security-advisories@github.com
References
- https://github.com/beeware/briefcase-windows-VisualStudio-template/pull/85Issue Tracking, Patch
- https://github.com/beeware/briefcase-windows-app-template/pull/86Issue Tracking, Patch
- https://github.com/beeware/briefcase/issues/2759Issue Tracking
- https://github.com/beeware/briefcase/security/advisories/GHSA-r3r2-35v9-v238Mitigation, Patch, Vendor Advisory
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA. Refreshed daily.