CVE-2020-36983
Published: 27 January 2026
Summary
CVE-2020-36983 is a high-severity Unquoted Search Path or Element (CWE-428) vulnerability in Pablosoftwaresolutions (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 8.5 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Path Interception by Unquoted Path (T1574.009); ranked at the 5.8th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 CM-6 (Configuration Settings) and RA-5 (Vulnerability Monitoring and Scanning).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2020-36983 is an unquoted service path vulnerability in Quick 'n Easy FTP Service 3.2. The issue arises from a misconfigured service binary path, classified as CWE-428, which enables local attackers to execute arbitrary code during service startup. This affects Windows systems running the service, with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).
Local attackers with low privileges (PR:L) can exploit the vulnerability by injecting a malicious executable into the unquoted path searched by the service before the legitimate binary. During system boot or service restart, the malicious code executes with elevated LocalSystem privileges, granting attackers high-impact control over confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Relevant advisories and resources include an exploit at https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/48983, a Vulncheck advisory at https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/quick-n-easy-ftp-service-unquoted-service-path, and vendor pages at https://www.pablosoftwaresolutions.com/download.php?id=10 and https://www.pablosoftwaresolutions.com/html/quick__n_easy_ftp_service.html. No patch details are specified in the CVE description.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2020-30868
Vulnerability details
Quick 'n Easy FTP Service 3.2 contains an unquoted service path vulnerability that allows local attackers to execute arbitrary code during service startup. Attackers can exploit the misconfigured service binary path to inject malicious executables with elevated LocalSystem privileges during…
more
system boot or service restart.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Unquoted service path (CWE-428) directly enables path interception by unquoted path (T1574.009) for local privilege escalation (T1068) via malicious binary placement executed at service startup with SYSTEM rights.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Establishes and implements secure configuration settings for Windows services, directly preventing unquoted service path vulnerabilities like CVE-2020-36983.
Requires timely remediation of configuration flaws such as unquoted service paths, addressing the root cause of CVE-2020-36983 before exploitation.
Vulnerability scanning and monitoring identifies unquoted service path misconfigurations exploited by CVE-2020-36983.