CVE-2024-0819: TeamViewer Remote Privilege Escalation Flaw

CVE-2024-0819 Overview

CVE-2024-0819 is a privilege escalation vulnerability affecting TeamViewer Remote Client across Windows, Linux, and macOS platforms. The vulnerability stems from improper initialization of default settings, which allows a low-privileged user to elevate privileges by changing the personal password setting and establishing a remote connection to a logged-in admin account.

Critical Impact

Low-privileged local users can escalate privileges by exploiting improper default settings to gain remote access to administrator sessions, potentially leading to full system compromise.

Affected Products

• TeamViewer Remote Client prior to version 15.51.5 for Windows
• TeamViewer Remote Client prior to version 15.51.5 for Linux
• TeamViewer Remote Client prior to version 15.51.5 for macOS

Discovery Timeline

• 2024-02-27 - CVE-2024-0819 published to NVD
• 2025-03-03 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-0819

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management). The core issue lies in how TeamViewer Remote Client initializes its default security settings upon installation or during runtime. The improper initialization allows a user with limited privileges on the system to manipulate the personal password configuration—a security control that should normally be protected from unauthorized modification.

Once the personal password is changed, the attacker can leverage this misconfiguration to establish a remote connection to the machine. If an administrator is currently logged in, this creates a direct pathway for the low-privileged user to interact with an elevated session, effectively bypassing normal privilege boundaries. The attack requires local access to the target system and does not require any user interaction to execute.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2024-0819 is improper initialization of default settings within the TeamViewer Remote Client application. Specifically, the application fails to properly enforce access controls on the personal password configuration, allowing users without administrative privileges to modify this critical security setting. This misconfiguration creates a gap in the privilege boundary that should prevent low-privileged users from altering security-critical configurations.

Attack Vector

The attack vector for this vulnerability is local, requiring the attacker to have existing low-privileged access to the target system. The exploitation process involves the following steps:

1. A low-privileged user identifies that TeamViewer Remote Client is installed and running on the system
2. The attacker exploits the improper default settings initialization to change the personal password setting
3. With the modified password, the attacker establishes a remote connection to the local machine
4. If an administrator account is currently logged in, the attacker gains access to that elevated session
5. The attacker can then perform actions with administrator privileges, potentially leading to full system compromise

The attack does not require any user interaction and can be executed with low complexity once the attacker has local access to the vulnerable system.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-0819

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected changes to TeamViewer personal password settings, especially from non-administrator accounts
• Remote connection sessions initiated from the local machine back to itself (loopback connections)
• TeamViewer connection logs showing sessions established by low-privileged users connecting to administrator sessions
• Unauthorized modifications to TeamViewer configuration files

Detection Strategies

• Monitor TeamViewer configuration changes using file integrity monitoring tools on configuration directories
• Audit TeamViewer connection logs for suspicious session patterns, particularly local-to-local connections
• Implement endpoint detection rules to alert on privilege escalation attempts involving TeamViewer processes
• Review Windows Event Logs, Linux auth logs, or macOS unified logs for unusual TeamViewer activity correlating with privilege changes

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable verbose logging in TeamViewer and forward logs to a centralized SIEM platform for correlation analysis
• Configure alerts for any TeamViewer password or configuration changes occurring outside of authorized change windows
• Monitor for new remote connections initiated immediately following configuration changes
• Track process execution chains to identify if TeamViewer is being used as a privilege escalation vector

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-0819

Immediate Actions Required

• Upgrade TeamViewer Remote Client to version 15.51.5 or later on all Windows, Linux, and macOS systems immediately
• Audit all systems running vulnerable TeamViewer versions and prioritize patching based on exposure and administrator session activity
• Review recent TeamViewer logs for any signs of exploitation or unauthorized configuration changes
• Consider temporarily disabling TeamViewer on critical systems until patching is complete

Patch Information

TeamViewer has released version 15.51.5 which addresses this vulnerability across all affected platforms. The patch corrects the improper initialization of default settings, ensuring that personal password configurations are properly protected from modification by low-privileged users. Organizations should obtain the patched version from the official TeamViewer download portal. For detailed information, refer to the TeamViewer Security Bulletin TV-2024-1001.

Workarounds

• Restrict local user access on systems running TeamViewer to only authorized personnel until patching is complete
• Implement application whitelisting to control which users can execute TeamViewer on corporate systems
• Configure Group Policy or endpoint management solutions to lock down TeamViewer settings and prevent unauthorized modifications
• Consider using TeamViewer's management console to enforce centralized security policies that override local settings

# Verify TeamViewer version on Linux systems
teamviewer --version
# Expected output should show version 15.51.5 or higher

# Check TeamViewer version on Windows (PowerShell)
# Get-ItemProperty "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\TeamViewer" | Select-Object Version