Local privilege escalation via unquoted service path
Published Jan 26, 2026 · Updated Jan 26, 2026
Unquoted service path in Kite 1.2020.1119.0 allows local users to execute code with SYSTEM privileges through KiteService. KiteService registers its auto-start binary as C:\Program Files\Kite\KiteService.exe without surrounding quotes, allowing Windows path parsing to select an attacker-controlled executable at a space boundary. Exploitation requires local access and permission to place an executable at a path Windows probes before the LocalSystem service starts.
Summary
What happened
Unquoted service path in Kite 1.2020.1119.0 allows local users to execute code with SYSTEM privileges through KiteService. KiteService registers its auto-start binary as C:\Program Files\Kite\KiteService.exe without surrounding quotes, allowing Windows path parsing to select an attacker-controlled executable at a space boundary. Exploitation requires local access and permission to place an executable at a path Windows probes before the LocalSystem service starts.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2020-36958
- Published
- Jan 26, 2026
- Updated
- Jan 26, 2026
- Vendor
- Kite
- Product
- Kite
- Classifications
- CWE-428, T1574.009
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jan 26, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jan 26, 2026Record 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.
- Affected versionversion=0 <=1.2020.1119.0
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- Kite 1.2020.1119.0 KiteService unquoted service pathproof of concept · demonstrated
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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