Stack-based Buffer OverflowWeakness · CWE-121

CVE-2020-36961

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-01-28
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Public exploit Remotely reachable No privileges 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
10-Strike Network Inventory Explorer 8.65 contains a buffer overflow vulnerability in exception handling that allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code. Attackers can craft a malicious file with 209 bytes of padding and a specially constructed Structured Exception Handler to trigger code execution.

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

10-Strike Network Inventory Explorer 8.65 contains a buffer overflow in its exception handling mechanism. Attackers can trigger arbitrary code execution by crafting a malicious file containing 209 bytes of padding followed by a specially constructed Structured Exception Handler (SEH) overwrite. This is a classic SEH-based buffer overflow enabling remote code execution.

MitigationApply the vendor patch or upgrade to a patched version of 10-Strike Network Inventory Explorer. Until patched, avoid opening untrusted files from unknown sources with this software.

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

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 installed version of 10-Strike Network Inventory Explorer
    Open the application and navigate to Help > About, or right-click the executable and select Properties > Details to view the Product Version
    Affected if The installed version is 8.65
  2. Verify file import functionality is in use
    Check if the software has recently opened, imported, or processed files from external or untrusted sources
    Affected if The software has been used to open files, particularly from untrusted or unknown sources
  3. Review recent file operations
    Check Windows Event Logs or the application's activity logs for recent file import/open operations that may indicate exposure to potentially malicious files
    Affected if Untrusted or unknown files have been opened with this software
  4. Confirm exception handling behavior
    Observe if the application exhibits unusual crash behavior, error messages related to memory access, or unexpected termination when opening specific files
    Affected if The application exhibits abnormal crash behavior consistent with buffer overflow exploitation after opening files

A user is affected if 10-Strike Network Inventory Explorer version 8.65 has been used to open files from untrusted or unknown sources, enabling the SEH-based buffer overflow to trigger.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the vendor patch or upgrade to a patched version of 10-Strike Network Inventory Explorer. Until patched, avoid opening untrusted files from unknown sources with this software.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,970
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-36961 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-36961 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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