# CVE-2020-36164: Path traversal in n/a

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

- **Severity:** Critical 9.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AC:L/AV:L/A:H/C:H/I:H/PR:N/S:C/UI:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 6 Jan 2021
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-qr7j-48q9-7wvf

## 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: 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.

## Is CVE-2020-36164 being exploited?

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

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2024-53909](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-53909/): Deserialization in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2024-53910](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-53910/): Deserialization in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2024-53911](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-53911/): Deserialization in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2024-53912](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-53912/): Deserialization in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2024-53913](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-53913/): Deserialization in n/a (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-36164 and fix it if it is affected.

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

Affected product: n/a. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-36164/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-36164/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-36164
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-36164
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-36164

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-36164/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.