CVE-2020-8094
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 untrusted search path vulnerability in testinitsigs.exe as used in Bitdefender Antivirus Free 2020 allows a low-privilege attacker to execute code as SYSTEM via a specially crafted DLL file.
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 confidenceA DLL search order hijacking vulnerability in testinitsigs.exe (Bitdefender Antivirus Free 2020) allows a low-privilege user to achieve code execution as SYSTEM by placing a specially crafted malicious DLL in a directory searched by the executable before it loads the legitimate DLL.
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< 1.0.16.152CVSS 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
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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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Locate the vulnerable testinitsigs.exe executableSearch for testinitsigs.exe in typical Bitdefender installation directories such as Program Files or Program Files (x86) under a Bitdefender folder, or use 'where /r C:\ testinitsigs.exe' from an elevated command promptAffected if testinitsigs.exe is found on the system and belongs to a Bitdefender Antivirus 2020 installation
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Determine the installed Bitdefender Antivirus 2020 versionOpen Programs and Features (appwiz.cpl), find Bitdefender Antivirus 2020, and note the version number displayed in the Version column, or check the version property of the testinitsigs.exe file itselfAffected if The version is less than 1.0.16.152
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Verify if testinitsigs.exe runs with elevated privilegesRun Process Explorer or Process Hacker, look for testinitsigs.exe running under a SYSTEM or high-privilege account, or check the task scheduler for any scheduled tasks that execute testinitsigs.exe with elevated rightsAffected if testinitsigs.exe runs or is scheduled to run with SYSTEM or other high-privilege credentials
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Identify writable directories in the DLL search pathUse Sysinternal's Process Monitor to capture DLL load events for testinitsigs.exe, or manually review the executable's directory and parent directories for write permissions by standard usersAffected if Standard users can write to any directory that testinitsigs.exe searches for DLLs before the legitimate DLL location
Your environment is affected if testinitsigs.exe exists from a Bitdefender Antivirus 2020 version below 1.0.16.152, runs with elevated privileges, and standard users have write access to directories in the DLL search order.
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.
dbcve · scoped1.0.16.152
Apply vendor patch from Bitdefender or remove/disable testinitsigs.exe if unused; ensure all executables use secure DLL search paths (specifying full path to DLLs).
Version 1.0.16.152 or later of Bitdefender Antivirus Free 2020
- Open Bitdefender Antivirus Free 2020 application
- Navigate to the Settings or About section
- Check the current version number to confirm it is below 1.0.16.152
- Click on 'Update' or 'Check for Updates' to download and install the latest version
- Verify the updated version is 1.0.16.152 or later
- Alternatively, download the latest installer directly from the official Bitdefender website and reinstall to ensure the patched version is applied
- Restart the system after updating
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-8094 — 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-2020-8094 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data