Local privilege escalation via unquoted service path
Published Jan 28, 2026 · Updated Jan 28, 2026
Privilege escalation in Bartels Media ShareMouse 5.0.43 allows local users to execute arbitrary code via an unquoted Windows service path. The ShareMouse Service ImagePath omits quotes around C:\Program Files (x86)\ShareMouse\smService.exe, so Windows can select an attacker-placed earlier path component. Exploitation requires write access to a searched path and service startup or reboot; successful code runs as LocalSystem.
Summary
What happened
Privilege escalation in Bartels Media ShareMouse 5.0.43 allows local users to execute arbitrary code via an unquoted Windows service path. The ShareMouse Service ImagePath omits quotes around C:\Program Files (x86)\ShareMouse\smService.exe, so Windows can select an attacker-placed earlier path component. Exploitation requires write access to a searched path and service startup or reboot; successful code runs as LocalSystem.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2020-36991
- Published
- Jan 28, 2026
- Updated
- Jan 28, 2026
- Vendor
- Bartels Media
- Product
- ShareMouse
- Classifications
- CWE-428, T1574.009
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jan 28, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jan 28, 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?
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- Affected versionversion=5.0.43
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
- ShareMouse 5.0.43 ShareMouse Service unquoted service pathproof of concept · demonstrated
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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