CVE-2020-36163
An issue was discovered in Veritas NetBackup and OpsCenter through 8.3.0.1. NetBackup processes...
An issue was discovered in Veritas NetBackup and OpsCenter through 8.3.0.1. NetBackup processes using Strawberry Perl attempt to load and execute libraries from paths that do not exist by default on the Windows operating system. By default, on Windows systems, users can create directories under C:. If a low privileged user on the Windows system creates an affected path with a library that NetBackup attempts to load, they can execute arbitrary code as SYSTEM or Administrator. This gives the attacker administrator access on the system, allowing the attacker (by default) to access all data, access all installed applications, etc. This affects NetBackup master servers, media servers, clients, and OpsCenter servers on the Windows platform. The system is vulnerable during an install or upgrade on all systems and post-install on Master, Media, and OpsCenter servers during normal operations.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
9.3
An issue was discovered in Veritas NetBackup and OpsCenter through 8.3.0.1. NetBackup processes using Strawberry Perl attempt to load and execute libraries from paths that do not exist by default on the Windows operating system. By default, on Windows systems, users can create directories under C:. If a low privileged user on the Windows system creates an affected path with a library that NetBackup attempts to load, they can execute arbitrary code as SYSTEM or Administrator. This gives the attacker administrator access on the system, allowing the attacker (by default) to access all data, access all installed applications, etc. This affects NetBackup master servers, media servers, clients, and OpsCenter servers on the Windows platform. The system is vulnerable during an install or upgrade on all systems and post-install on Master, Media, and OpsCenter servers during normal operations.
- Record
CVE-2020-36163- CVSS 3.1
- 9.3 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AC:L/AV:L/A:H/C:H/I:H/PR:N/S:C/UI:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2020-23741
9.3
An issue was discovered in Veritas NetBackup and OpsCenter through 8.3.0.1. NetBackup processes using Strawberry Perl attempt to load and execute libraries from paths that do not exist by default on the Windows operating system. By default, on Windows systems, users can create directories under C:. If a low privileged user on the Windows system creates an affected path with a library that NetBackup attempts to load, they can execute arbitrary code as SYSTEM or Administrator. This gives the attacker administrator access on the system, allowing the attacker (by default) to access all data, access all installed applications, etc. This affects NetBackup master servers, media servers, clients, and OpsCenter servers on the Windows platform. The system is vulnerable during an install or upgrade on all systems and post-install on Master, Media, and OpsCenter servers during normal operations.
- Record
EUVD-2020-23741- CVSS 3.1
- 9.3 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AC:L/AV:L/A:H/C:H/I:H/PR:N/S:C/UI:N - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-rhrj-qwv6-j538 No score
An issue was discovered in Veritas NetBackup and OpsCenter through 8.3.0.1. NetBackup processes...
An issue was discovered in Veritas NetBackup and OpsCenter through 8.3.0.1. NetBackup processes using Strawberry Perl attempt to load and execute libraries from paths that do not exist by default on the Windows operating system. By default, on Windows systems, users can create directories under C:. If a low privileged user on the Windows system creates an affected path with a library that NetBackup attempts to load, they can execute arbitrary code as SYSTEM or Administrator. This gives the attacker administrator access on the system, allowing the attacker (by default) to access all data, access all installed applications, etc. This affects NetBackup master servers, media servers, clients, and OpsCenter servers on the Windows platform. The system is vulnerable during an install or upgrade on all systems and post-install on Master, Media, and OpsCenter servers during normal operations.
- Record
GHSA-rhrj-qwv6-j538- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
9.3
An issue was discovered in Veritas NetBackup and OpsCenter through 8.3.0.1. NetBackup processes using Strawberry Perl attempt to load and execute libraries from paths that do not exist by default on the Windows operating system. By default, on Windows systems, users can create directories under C:. If a low privileged user on the Windows system creates an affected path with a library that NetBackup attempts to load, they can execute arbitrary code as SYSTEM or Administrator. This gives the attacker administrator access on the system, allowing the attacker (by default) to access all data, access all installed applications, etc. This affects NetBackup master servers, media servers, clients, and OpsCenter servers on the Windows platform. The system is vulnerable during an install or upgrade on all systems and post-install on Master, Media, and OpsCenter servers during normal operations.
- Record
CVE-2020-36163- CVSS 3.1
- 9.3 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - CVSS 3.1
- 8.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 7.2 High
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C - Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2020-36163 is a critical vulnerability (CVSS 9.3) in Veritas Netbackup, published January 6, 2021. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.41%, the 35th percentile. No source names a fixed version.