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Media Validation AgentApplication · Opswat

CVE-2023-36658

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-09-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.0.7 / 4.6.2 or later.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
An issue was discovered in OPSWAT MetaDefender KIOSK 4.6.1.9996. It has an unquoted service path that can be abused locally.

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 confidence

OPSWAT MetaDefender KIOSK installs a Windows service with an unquoted executable path containing spaces. This allows local attackers to achieve privilege escalation by placing a malicious executable in an intermediate directory along the path, which Windows will attempt to execute before reaching the intended binary.

MitigationLocate the affected service in Windows registry or service configuration, identify the unquoted path, and reconfigure the service with properly quoted path values ensuring the entire path to the executable is enclosed in quotation marks.

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
Media Validation AgentApplication
Affected:>= 2.0.0, < 2.0.7
Metadefender KioskApplication
Affected:>= 4.2, < 4.6.2

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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed Opswat product and version
    Check the Windows registry at HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\ for entries containing 'Opswat' or inspect Program Files for 'Opswat' folder. Use 'wmic product get name,version' or check the specific product's About/Version info in the application interface.
    Affected if Product is Opswat Media Validation Agent with version 2.0.0 through 2.0.6, OR Opswat Metadefender Kiosk with version 4.2 through 4.6.1
  2. Locate the Windows service associated with the product
    Open Services (services.msc) or run 'sc queryex type= service state= all' and look for service names containing 'MetaDefender', 'KIOSK', or 'MediaValidation'. Note the service display name and service name.
    Affected if A Windows service related to the Opswat product is found on the system
  3. Query the service executable path configuration
    Run 'sc qc <service_name>' (e.g., sc qc MetaDefenderKiosk) or check the registry key at HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\<service_name> for the ImagePath value.
    Affected if The service exists and returns a binary path configuration
  4. Check if executable path is unquoted with spaces
    Examine the BINARY_PATH_NAME from the sc qc output or the ImagePath registry value. Determine if the path contains one or more spaces AND is NOT enclosed in quotation marks.
    Affected if The path contains spaces and is NOT surrounded by double quotes (e.g., C:\Program Files\Opswat\bin\service.exe is vulnerable; "C:\Program Files\Opswat\bin\service.exe" is fixed)

The system is affected if an Opswat product in the listed version range has a Windows service configured with an unquoted path containing spaces in the binary path.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 2.0.7 / 4.6.2 or later
Fixed in 2.0.74.6.2
Interim mitigation

Locate the affected service in Windows registry or service configuration, identify the unquoted path, and reconfigure the service with properly quoted path values ensuring the entire path to the executable is enclosed in quotation marks.

Recommended fix High confidence

Media Validation Agent: 2.0.7+ | Metadefender Kiosk: 4.6.2+

  1. Upgrade Media Validation Agent to version 2.0.7 or later
  2. Upgrade Metadefender Kiosk to version 4.6.2 or later
  3. After upgrading, verify the service paths are properly quoted and the services start correctly
  4. Confirm the unquoted service path vulnerability is no longer present

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Media Validation Agent Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,090
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,744.

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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-2023-36658 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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