CVE-2020-37231

Privacy Drive 3.17.0 Unquoted Service Path Privilege Escalation

High8.5Public exploitEPSS 0.12%

Published: 16 May 2026
Updated: 18 May 2026
Reserved: 15 May 2026
Assigned by: VulnCheck

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.

Public exploit

A reference of the record is tagged as an exploit or proof of concept: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. CISA's SSVC rates its exploitation: a proof of concept is public.

ExploitDB-49023 (opens in a new tab)exploit

Timeline

2026
15 May 2026
15 May 2026
ID reserved
By VulnCheck
16 May 20261 day later
16 May 2026· 1 day later
Published
18 May 20262 days later
18 May 2026· 2 days later
Record updated

Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.

Scores

CVSS scores of CVE-2020-37231, by who scored it
Scored by	CVSS	Score	Vector
VulnCheckCNA (assigner)	4.0	High8.5	CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
VulnCheckCNA (assigner)	3.1	High7.8	CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVDNVD · Deferred	4.0	High8.5	CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

EPSS (exploitation in 30 days): 0.12% · top 98% of all CVEs (7 Nov 2026)
CISA SSVC: Exploitation: poc · Automatable: no · Technical impact: total

The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 8.5.

Weakness

CWE-428: Unquoted Search Path or Element (opens in a new tab)All about CWE-428 and its CVEs

Affected products

Cybertronsoft · Privacy Drive
- affected 3.17.0 Build 1456

References (4)

ExploitDB-49023 (opens in a new tab)exploit
Official Product Homepage (opens in a new tab)product
Product Reference (opens in a new tab)product
VulnCheck Advisory: Privacy Drive 3.17.0 Unquoted Service Path Privilege Escalation (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisory

Sources

The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.

Badge for a README or a ticket

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Record last updated 18 May 2026, 19:48 UTC.