CVE-2020-37252
Realtek Audio Service unquoted path enables local privilege escalation
Is CVE-2020-37252 being exploited?
Not confirmed. CVE-2020-37252 does not appear in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which records only exploitation that has been observed and reported publicly. That is evidence of absence of a report, not evidence the flaw is unattacked. EPSS currently estimates a 0.17% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How severe is CVE-2020-37252?
CVE-2020-37252 is rated High with a CVSS score of 8.5. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.
Is there a patch for CVE-2020-37252?
Not known from our data. No patch reference has been recorded for CVE-2020-37252, which is not the same as no patch existing — a fix may have shipped without a tagged reference, or after this record was written. The vendor advisory is the only authority on whether a fix exists, and mitigations may be available regardless.
What does CVE-2020-37252 affect?
CVE-2020-37252 affects Realtek Audio Service 1.0.0.55, RtkAudioService64.exe. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
What should I do about CVE-2020-37252?
Update Realtek driver to patched version; fix unquoted path usage.
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
Unquoted service path allows local attacker to execute code as LocalSystem at service startup.
Patch when possible
- affected1.0.0.55
As published in the CVE Program record. A version outside these ranges is not a statement that it is unaffected — vendors sometimes understate a range, and distribution-backported builds carry upstream numbers that do not reflect what was patched into them.