CVE-2020-36164 Path traversal in n/a

Critical 9.3 Published 6 Jan 2021 Updated 4 Aug 2024

A low-privileged user can create a malicious OpenSSL config file to achieve arbitrary code execution as SYSTEM when the service starts.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Not needed
Attackable: Local or same network only
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: None listed

What is CVE-2020-36164?

CVE-2020-36164 is a critical path traversal vulnerability in n/a, published on 6 Jan 2021. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

An issue was discovered in Veritas Enterprise Vault through 14.0. On start-up, it loads the OpenSSL library. The OpenSSL library then attempts to load the openssl.cnf configuration file (which does not exist) at the following locations in both the System drive (typically C:\) and the product's installation drive (typically not C:\): \Isode\etc\ssl\openssl.cnf (on SMTP Server) or \user\ssl\openssl.cnf (on other affected components). By default, on Windows systems, users can create directories under C:\. A low privileged user can create a openssl.cnf configuration file to load a malicious OpenSSL engine, resulting in arbitrary code execution as SYSTEM when the service starts. This gives the attacker administrator access on the system, allowing the attacker (by default) to access all data, access all installed applications, etc. This vulnerability only affects a server with MTP Server, SMTP Archiving IMAP Server, IMAP Archiving, Vault Cloud Adapter, NetApp File server, or File System Archiving for NetApp as File Server.

Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-36164?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Veritas Enterprise Vault.

How do I fix CVE-2020-36164?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-36164 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

Upgrade, and resolve every user-supplied path against an allowed base folder before opening it. More about Path traversal.

Is CVE-2020-36164 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-36164 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Sources

Also known as GHSA-qr7j-48q9-7wvf.