CVE-2020-36168
An issue was discovered in Veritas Resiliency Platform 3.4 and 3.5. It leverages OpenSSL on...
An issue was discovered in Veritas Resiliency Platform 3.4 and 3.5. It leverages OpenSSL on Windows systems when using the Managed Host addon. On start-up, it loads the OpenSSL library. This library may attempt to load the openssl.cnf configuration file, which does not exist. By default, on Windows systems, users can create directories under C:. A low privileged user can create a C:\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.
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 Resiliency Platform 3.4 and 3.5. It leverages OpenSSL on Windows systems when using the Managed Host addon. On start-up, it loads the OpenSSL library. This library may attempt to load the openssl.cnf configuration file, which does not exist. By default, on Windows systems, users can create directories under C:. A low privileged user can create a C:\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.
- Record
CVE-2020-36168- 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-2020-23746
9.3
An issue was discovered in Veritas Resiliency Platform 3.4 and 3.5. It leverages OpenSSL on Windows systems when using the Managed Host addon. On start-up, it loads the OpenSSL library. This library may attempt to load the openssl.cnf configuration file, which does not exist. By default, on Windows systems, users can create directories under C:. A low privileged user can create a C:\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.
- Record
EUVD-2020-23746- 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-j89q-qm4p-pm48 No score
An issue was discovered in Veritas Resiliency Platform 3.4 and 3.5. It leverages OpenSSL on...
An issue was discovered in Veritas Resiliency Platform 3.4 and 3.5. It leverages OpenSSL on Windows systems when using the Managed Host addon. On start-up, it loads the OpenSSL library. This library may attempt to load the openssl.cnf configuration file, which does not exist. By default, on Windows systems, users can create directories under C:. A low privileged user can create a C:\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.
- Record
GHSA-j89q-qm4p-pm48- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
9.3
An issue was discovered in Veritas Resiliency Platform 3.4 and 3.5. It leverages OpenSSL on Windows systems when using the Managed Host addon. On start-up, it loads the OpenSSL library. This library may attempt to load the openssl.cnf configuration file, which does not exist. By default, on Windows systems, users can create directories under C:. A low privileged user can create a C:\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.
- Record
CVE-2020-36168- 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-2020-36168 is a critical vulnerability (CVSS 9.3) in Veritas Resiliency Platform, published January 6, 2021. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.45%, the 39th percentile. No source names a fixed version.