CVE-2020-8868
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 · uneditedThis vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of Quest Foglight Evolve 9.0.0. Authentication is not required to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the __service__ user account. The product contains a hard-coded password for this account. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to execute arbitrary code in the context of SYSTEM. Was ZDI-CAN-9553.
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 confidenceQuest Foglight Evolve 9.0.0 contains a hard-coded password for the __service__ user account, allowing remote unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary code with SYSTEM privileges by authenticating with this credentials.
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= 9.0.0CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Foglight Evolve installation and versionCheck for Quest Foglight Evolve installation directory and determine installed version. Common locations include C:\Program Files\Quest\Foglight or /opt/quest/foglight. Look for version file or check installer registry/logs.Affected if Installed version is exactly 9.0.0
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Verify __service__ account existsCheck if the __service__ user account exists in the Foglight user database or authentication system. This may be visible in the Foglight Management Server configuration, user management console, or underlying database.Affected if The __service__ account is present in the system
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Check for hard-coded credential usageInspect Foglight configuration files (such as fglconig.xml, login.config, or similar) for hard-coded passwords or the __service__ account credentials. Also check for credentials embedded in scripts or configuration XML files.Affected if Hard-coded password for __service__ account is found in configuration files or scripts
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Audit for unauthorized access or unusual activityReview Foglight access logs, audit logs, and system event logs for authentication attempts using the __service__ account, especially from unexpected IP addresses or at unusual times. Check for commands or code execution originating from this account.Affected if There are log entries showing __service__ account authentication from untrusted sources or unexpected command executions
A user is affected if Quest Foglight Evolve version 9.0.0 is installed with the hard-coded __service__ account password still in use and accessible.
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 dataImmediately change or disable the hard-coded __service__ account password, apply vendor patches when available, and audit for unauthorized access or post-exploitation activity.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-8868 — 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-2020-8868 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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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.
- 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