CVE-2020-5569
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 · uneditedAn unquoted search path vulnerability exists in HDD Password tool (for Windows) version 1.20.6620 and earlier which is stored in CANVIO PREMIUM 3TB(HD-MB30TY, HD-MA30TY, HD-MB30TS, HD-MA30TS), CANVIO PREMIUM 2TB(HD-MB20TY, HD-MA20TY, HD-MB20TS, HD-MA20TS), CANVIO PREMIUM 1TB(HD-MB10TY, HD-MA10TY, HD-MB10TS, HD-MA10TS), CANVIO SLIM 1TB(HD-SB10TK, HD-SB10TS), and CANVIO SLIM 500GB(HD-SB50GK, HD-SA50GK, HD-SB50GS, HD-SA50GS), and which was downloaded before 2020 May 10. Since it registers Windows services with unquoted file paths, when a registered path contains spaces, and a malicious executable is placed on a certain path, it may be executed with the privilege of the Windows service.
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 confidenceThe HDD Password tool for Windows (versions 1.20.6620 and earlier) registers Windows services with unquoted file paths. When a path contains spaces (e.g., C:\Program Files\Tool\app.exe), Windows attempts to execute each space-separated component as a potential executable before finding the correct one. An attacker with local access could place a malicious executable in an intermediate directory path (e.g., C:\Program.exe) to achieve privilege escalation to the service account level.
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<= 1.20.6620CVSS 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
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check if Toshiba HDD Password Tool is installedOpen Control Panel > Programs and Features, or run 'Get-ItemProperty HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\* | Select-Object DisplayName, DisplayVersion' in PowerShell to list installed programs. Look for 'Toshiba Password Tool' or similar.Affected if The tool is listed with a version <= 1.20.6620
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Identify services created by the HDD Password ToolOpen Services (services.msc) or run 'Get-Service | Select-Object Name, DisplayName, PathName' in PowerShell. Look for services related to Toshiba HDD Password or storage security.Affected if One or more services associated with the tool are present on the system
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Inspect the service executable path for unquoted spacesRun 'Get-WmiObject Win32_Service | Select-Object Name, PathName | Format-List' or use 'sc qc <serviceName>' for each identified service. Examine the PathName field.Affected if The path contains spaces and is not enclosed in quotation marks (e.g., C:\Program Files\Toshiba\Tool\app.exe instead of "C:\Program Files\Toshiba\Tool\app.exe")
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Verify the path vulnerability existsParse the unquoted path to confirm it contains intermediate directories that could be exploited. For example, C:\Program Files\Tool\app.exe creates C:\Program.exe as a potential injection point.Affected if The unquoted service path contains spaces where Windows would attempt to execute intermediate executables before the intended binary
A user is affected if the Toshiba HDD Password Tool version 1.20.6620 or earlier is installed AND it has created Windows services with unquoted executable paths containing spaces.
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 dataUpdate the HDD Password tool to a version released after May 10, 2020 which contains the fix, or remove/reconfigure the vulnerable service if the tool is no longer needed.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-5569 — 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-2020-5569 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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