CVE-2020-36548
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 · uneditedA vulnerability classified as problematic has been found in GE Voluson S8. Affected is the file /uscgi-bin/users.cgi of the Service Browser. The manipulation leads to improper authentication and elevated access possibilities. It is possible to launch the attack on the local host.
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 · moderate confidenceThe GE Voluson S8 ultrasound system's Service Browser contains a file /uscgi-bin/users.cgi with improper authentication controls, allowing a local attacker to bypass authentication and gain elevated privileges. The vulnerability requires local host access to exploit, indicating the attacker needs some level of physical or local network access to the medical device.
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 dataall versionsCVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm device model is GE Voluson S8Access the device system information or service menu to verify the exact model designation of the ultrasound systemAffected if the device model is confirmed to be GE Voluson S8
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Locate the vulnerable CGI scriptCheck for the presence of the file /uscgi-bin/users.cgi in the web service directory of the deviceAffected if the file /uscgi-bin/users.cgi exists on the system
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Verify Service Browser interface is accessibleAttempt to access the Service Browser interface via the device's web server on the service portAffected if the Service Browser interface is reachable from the network segment where the device is located
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Test authentication bypass on the CGI scriptSend an HTTP request directly to /uscgi-bin/users.cgi without providing credentials to see if access is grantedAffected if the script responds without requiring authentication
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Assess network accessibility to service interfacesCheck which network interfaces and ports on the device are exposed to network segments accessible to unauthorized usersAffected if the service interface is accessible from a network segment that lacks proper access controls or from the local console without restricted access
The environment is affected if the system is a GE Voluson S8 ultrasound device and the Service Browser with /uscgi-bin/users.cgi is accessible without requiring authentication, particularly if the device service interfaces are reachable from an uncontrolled network segment.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataApply vendor-supplied firmware updates from GE Healthcare for the Voluson S8 system, and implement network segmentation to limit local access to the device's service interfaces.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $12,352.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-36548 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-36548 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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
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