# CVE-2020-36166: Path traversal in n/a

> A low-privileged user can exploit an insecure library path to load a malicious OpenSSL engine, achieving arbitrary code execution as SYSTEM.

- **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-37w4-w4g6-8f3q

## What is CVE-2020-36166?

CVE-2020-36166 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 InfoScale 7.x through 7.4.2 on Windows, Storage Foundation through 6.1 on Windows, Storage Foundation HA through 6.1 on Windows, and InfoScale Operations Manager (aka VIOM) Windows Management Server 7.x through 7.4.2. On start-up, it loads the OpenSSL library from \usr\local\ssl. This library attempts to load the \usr\local\ssl\openssl.cnf configuration file, which may not exist. On Windows systems, this path could translate to <drive>:\usr\local\ssl\openssl.cnf, where <drive> could be the default Windows installation drive such as C:\ or the drive where a Veritas product is installed. By default, on Windows systems, users can create directories under any top-level directory. A low privileged user can create a <drive>:\usr\local\ssl\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.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-36166?

It affects 4 products.


Products: Veritas Infoscale, Veritas Infoscale Operations Manager, Veritas Storage Foundation, Veritas Storage Foundation and High Availability.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-36166?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-36166 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-36166 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-36166 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-36166 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-36166 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-2020-36166 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-2020-36166/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-36166/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-36166
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-36166
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-36166

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-36166/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.