CVE-2020-37231 Privacy Drive 3.17.0 Unquoted Service Path Privilege Escalation
Local attackers can escalate privileges to LocalSystem by placing malicious executables in unquoted service path directories during startup.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2020-37231?
CVE-2020-37231 is a high-severity vulnerability in Cybertronsoft Privacy Drive, published on 16 May 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Privacy Drive 3.17.0 contains an unquoted service path vulnerability in the pdsvc.exe service binary that allows local attackers to escalate privileges by exploiting the service startup process. Attackers can place malicious executables in the unquoted path directories to execute arbitrary code with LocalSystem privileges during service startup or system reboot.
Weakness: CWE-428
Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-37231?
How do I fix CVE-2020-37231?
No fix has been published for CVE-2020-37231 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Is CVE-2020-37231 being exploited?
It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2020-37231 exists.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-r472-vxph-wqrf.