# CVE-2020-36981: Motorola Device Manager 2.4.5 - 'ForwardDaemon.exe ' Unquoted Service Path

> Local attackers can execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges by exploiting an unquoted service path in Motorola Device Manager.

- **Severity:** High 8.5 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 27 Jan 2026
- **Updated:** 27 Jan 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-7jqp-g5vc-78qc

## What is CVE-2020-36981?

CVE-2020-36981 is a high-severity vulnerability in Filehorse Motorola Device Manager, published on 27 Jan 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Motorola Device Manager 2.4.5 contains an unquoted service path vulnerability in the PST Service that allows local users to potentially execute arbitrary code. Attackers can exploit the unquoted path in ForwardDaemon.exe to inject malicious code that will execute with elevated system privileges during service startup.

Weakness: CWE-428 (Unquoted Search Path or Element)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-36981?


## How do I fix CVE-2020-36981?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-36981 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-36981 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-36981 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-36981 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-36981 is a high-severity vulnerability in Filehorse Motorola Device Manager, published on 27 Jan 2026. 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-2020-36981 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Filehorse Motorola Device Manager. 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-2020-36981/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-36981/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-36981
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-36981
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-36981

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-36981/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.