CVE-2020-37045
Unquoted Service Path in Veritas NetBackup Enables Privilege Escalation
Publication date: 2026-02-01
Last updated on: 2026-02-01
Assigner: VulnCheck
Description
Description
CVSS Scores
EPSS Scores
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Meta Information
Affected Vendors & Products
| Vendor | Product | Version / Range |
|---|---|---|
| veritas | netbackup | to 7.0 (exc) |
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
| CWE ID | Description |
|---|---|
| CWE-428 | The product uses a search path that contains an unquoted element, in which the element contains whitespace or other separators. This can cause the product to access resources in a parent path. |
Attack-Flow Graph
AI Powered Q&A
Can you explain this vulnerability to me?
This vulnerability is an unquoted service path issue in the Veritas NetBackup INET Daemon service executable path. Because the path to the executable contains spaces and is not enclosed in quotes, Windows may misinterpret the path and allow a local attacker to place a malicious executable in a location that gets executed with elevated LocalSystem privileges. This lets the attacker run arbitrary code with high-level system rights, effectively escalating their privileges on the affected system. [1, 3]
How can this vulnerability impact me? :
If exploited, this vulnerability allows a local attacker with limited privileges to execute arbitrary code with LocalSystem privileges. This means the attacker can gain full control over the affected system, compromising confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data and system resources. It can lead to unauthorized access, data breaches, and disruption of services. [1, 3]
How can this vulnerability be detected on my network or system? Can you suggest some commands?
This vulnerability can be detected by checking for unquoted service paths in the Windows services configuration, specifically for the NetBackup INET Daemon service. Commands that can be used include: - wmic service get name, displayname, pathname, startmode | findstr /i "Auto" | findstr /i /v "C:\Windows\" | findstr /i /v """ - sc qc "NetBackup INET Daemon" These commands help identify if the service executable path is unquoted, which is the root cause of the vulnerability. [3]
What immediate steps should I take to mitigate this vulnerability?
Immediate mitigation steps include correcting the unquoted service path by enclosing the executable path in quotes to prevent Windows from misinterpreting the path and executing malicious code. Additionally, restrict local user access to prevent placing malicious executables in the vulnerable path segments. Applying any available patches or updates from Veritas for NetBackup 7.0 or upgrading to a fixed version is also recommended. [1, 3]