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ReflectApplication · Macrium

CVE-2020-10143

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-12-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 7.3.5281 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Macrium Reflect includes an OpenSSL component that specifies an OPENSSLDIR variable as C:\openssl\. Macrium Reflect contains a privileged service that uses this OpenSSL component. Because unprivileged Windows users can create subdirectories off of the system root, a user can create the appropriate path to a specially-crafted openssl.cnf file to achieve arbitrary code execution with SYSTEM privileges.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Macrium Reflect bundles an OpenSSL component with OPENSSLDIR hardcoded to C:\openssl\, and its privileged Windows service loads openssl.cnf from this path. Because unprivileged users can create directories off the system root, they can place a malicious openssl.cnf file to achieve arbitrary code execution as SYSTEM.

MitigationRestrict filesystem permissions to prevent unprivileged users from creating directories in system locations. Update the OpenSSL configuration to use a secure, non-user-writable path or embed the config within the application directory.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
ReflectApplication
Affected:< 7.3.5281

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify Macrium Reflect installation and version
    Check for Macrium Reflect installation by looking in Program Files for the Macrium Reflect folder, or check Windows Services for 'Macrium Reflect' service. Obtain the version from the executable or installer details.
    Affected if Macrium Reflect is installed and the version is less than 7.3.5281 (or version cannot be determined and the product is present)
  2. Verify OpenSSL directory exists at C:\openssl\
    Check if the directory C:\openssl\ exists on the system. This can be done via command prompt with 'dir C:\openssl\' or PowerShell with 'Test-Path C:\openssl\'.
    Affected if The C:\openssl\ directory exists on the system where Macrium Reflect is installed
  3. Confirm openssl.cnf file presence in C:\openssl\
    Inspect the contents of C:\openssl\ for an openssl.cnf configuration file using 'dir C:\openssl\openssl.cnf' or PowerShell 'Get-Item C:\openssl\openssl.cnf'.
    Affected if An openssl.cnf file exists at C:\openssl\openssl.cnf
  4. Verify write permissions on system root
    Test whether an unprivileged user account can create a new directory directly under C:\ (e.g., attempt to create a test directory or check NTFS permissions on C:\ for Users or Authenticated Users groups).
    Affected if Unprivileged users have the ability to create directories in the root of drive C:\ (or whichever drive contains the OPENSSLDIR path)
  5. Confirm Macrium Reflect service runs with elevated privileges
    Open Services (services.msc), locate the Macrium Reflect service, and verify it runs under SYSTEM or another elevated account. Also confirm the service is configured to start automatically.
    Affected if The Macrium Reflect Windows service runs with elevated privileges (SYSTEM/local system) and is active or set to start

A system is affected if Macrium Reflect version is below 7.3.5281, the C:\openssl\ directory exists with an openssl.cnf file present, and unprivileged users can create directories in the system root location where the service loads its configuration from.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 7.3.5281 or later
Fixed in 7.3.5281
Interim mitigation

Restrict filesystem permissions to prevent unprivileged users from creating directories in system locations. Update the OpenSSL configuration to use a secure, non-user-writable path or embed the config within the application directory.

Fix this in Reflect Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
17.0 hours of engineering $3,000
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-10143 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data