CVE-2020-24682

Local privilege escalation via unquoted service paths

Published Feb 2, 2024 · Updated Jun 17, 2025

Unquoted service paths in affected B&R Automation Studio and Automation Net/PVI 4.x releases allow local users to escalate privileges. Multiple Windows service registrations store executable paths containing spaces without surrounding quotation marks, causing Windows to search ambiguous path elements. Exploitation requires authenticated local access, high privileges, user interaction, and control of a searched path location, after which code runs under the service account.

CVSS severity7.2
High
EPSS probability0.15%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Unquoted service paths in affected B&R Automation Studio and Automation Net/PVI 4.x releases allow local users to escalate privileges. Multiple Windows service registrations store executable paths containing spaces without surrounding quotation marks, causing Windows to search ambiguous path elements. Exploitation requires authenticated local access, high privileges, user interaction, and control of a searched path location, after which code runs under the service account.

The record

CVE
CVE-2020-24682
Published
Feb 2, 2024
Updated
Jun 17, 2025
Vendor
B&R Industrial Automation
Product
Automation Studio
Classifications
CWE-428, CAPEC-69, T1574.009
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Feb 2, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jun 17, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=4.0 <=4.6
  2. Affected versionversion=4.7.0 <4.7.7 SP
  3. Affected versionversion=4.8.0 <4.8.6 SP
  4. Affected versionversion=4.9.0 <4.9.4 SP

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

B&R Industrial Automation · Automation Studioversion=4.0 <=4.6; version=4.7.0 <4.7.7 SP; version=4.8.0 <4.8.6 SP; version=4.9.0 <4.9.4 SP
B&R Industrial Automation · Automation Net/PVIversion=4.0 <=4.6; version=4.7.0 <4.7.7; version=4.8.0 <4.8.6; version=4.9.0 <4.9.4

Published CVSS scores

7.2Asea Brown Boveri Ltd. (ABB)CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
7.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-428Unquoted Search Path or Element
CAPEC-69Target Programs with Elevated Privileges
T1574.009Path Interception by Unquoted Path

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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