CVE-2020-36167

HIGH
8.8
CVSS Score
Published: January 6, 2021 at 12:51 AM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 03:14 AM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorBackup Exec

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Severity
HIGH8.8
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.5%

Description

An issue was discovered in the server in Veritas Backup Exec through 16.2, 20.6 before hotfix 298543, and 21.1 before hotfix 657517. On start-up, it loads the OpenSSL library from the Installation folder. This library in turn 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. A low privileged user can create a :\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. If the system is also an Active Directory domain controller, then this can affect the entire domain.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

20.0 ≤ v < 20.0.1188.273421.0 ≤ v < 21.0.1200.1217
Affected range stops below 20.0.1188.2734, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 21.0.1200.1217, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

References (2)

Third Party Advisoryx_refsource_CERT-VNUS Government Resource
https://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/429301

CVSS

Attack Vector
LOCAL
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
CHANGED
Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-434

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