CVE-2020-37138: 10-Strike Network Inventory RCE Flaw

CVE-2020-37138 Overview

CVE-2020-37138 affects 10-Strike Network Inventory Explorer 9.03, a network asset management tool used to inventory hardware and software across enterprise networks. The vulnerability is a stack-based buffer overflow [CWE-121] in the application's file import functionality. An attacker who convinces a user to open a maliciously crafted text file can overwrite the Structured Exception Handler (SEH) on the stack. By chaining return-oriented programming (ROP) gadgets, the attacker bypasses Data Execution Prevention (DEP) and executes arbitrary code in the context of the running user.

Critical Impact

Successful exploitation grants arbitrary code execution on the local host with the privileges of the user running Network Inventory Explorer, enabling full compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Affected Products

• 10-Strike Network Inventory Explorer 9.03
• 10-Strike Network Inventory Explorer (earlier 9.x builds sharing the vulnerable file-import routine)
• Windows hosts running the vulnerable Network Inventory Explorer desktop client

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-02-05 - CVE-2020-37138 published to NVD
• 2026-04-15 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2020-37138

Vulnerability Analysis

The flaw resides in the routine that parses user-supplied text files imported into Network Inventory Explorer. The function copies attacker-controlled data into a fixed-size stack buffer without validating the input length. Oversized input corrupts adjacent stack frames, including the SEH record. When the application subsequently triggers an exception, control transfers to the attacker-controlled SEH handler pointer. Because DEP prevents direct shellcode execution on the stack, the public exploit uses a Structured Exception Handler Return-Oriented Programming (SEH-ROP) chain to pivot execution into a sequence of gadgets that mark memory executable and run shellcode. The vulnerability is tracked as CWE-121: Stack-based Buffer Overflow and requires user interaction to import the crafted file.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing bounds checking in the file-import parser. The application reads attacker-supplied data into a fixed-length stack buffer using an unsafe copy operation. No length validation is performed against the destination buffer size, allowing the saved return address and SEH chain to be overwritten. Lack of modern stack protections such as /GS cookies and SafeSEH on the vulnerable module makes the corrupted SEH record reliably exploitable.

Attack Vector

Exploitation requires local access with user interaction. An attacker delivers a crafted .txt or similar import file through phishing, a shared drive, or another delivery channel. When the victim uses the Network Inventory Explorer import feature to load the file, the parser triggers the overflow. The exploit overwrites the SEH handler with a pointer to a POP POP RET gadget located in an unprotected module, redirecting execution to a ROP chain that bypasses DEP and executes the embedded payload. Public exploit code is available as Exploit-DB entry 48264.

No verified source code for the vulnerable parser is publicly available. See Exploit-DB #48264 and the VulnCheck Advisory on Buffer Overflow for technical details and a working proof-of-concept.

Detection Methods for CVE-2020-37138

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected child processes spawned by Network Inventory Explorer.exe, such as cmd.exe, powershell.exe, or rundll32.exe.
• Crash events in the Windows Application event log referencing Network Inventory Explorer.exe with exception code 0xC0000005 (access violation) during file import.
• Suspicious text or list files staged in user-writable directories immediately before launching the application.
• Outbound network connections initiated by Network Inventory Explorer.exe to non-corporate destinations.

Detection Strategies

• Hunt for process-lineage anomalies where Network Inventory Explorer.exe is the parent of interactive shells or scripting interpreters.
• Monitor Windows Error Reporting (WER) and Application event channel for repeated faulting in the inventory application binary.
• Inspect command-line arguments passed to the application for references to externally delivered import files.

Monitoring Recommendations

• Forward endpoint process-creation telemetry (Sysmon Event ID 1, Windows Event ID 4688) to a central analytics platform for behavioral correlation.
• Alert on module loads from user-writable paths into Network Inventory Explorer.exe.
• Track file-write events that create .txt, .csv, or .lst files in directories immediately before the application is launched.

How to Mitigate CVE-2020-37138

Immediate Actions Required

• Restrict use of 10-Strike Network Inventory Explorer 9.03 to trusted administrators on segmented management workstations.
• Block the application from importing files originating from untrusted sources such as email attachments and external media.
• Apply Microsoft Exploit Protection (formerly EMET) policies enforcing DEP, ASLR, and SEHOP for the Network Inventory Explorer.exe process.
• Remove the software from endpoints where it is not actively required.

Patch Information

No vendor patch is referenced in the available advisory data. Consult the VulnCheck Advisory on Buffer Overflow and the 10-Strike Network Inventory Tool product page for the latest fixed release information. Upgrade to a version that addresses the file-import parsing flaw once available from the vendor.

Workarounds

• Do not import text or list files received from untrusted sources into Network Inventory Explorer.
• Run the application under a low-privilege user account with no administrative rights on the host.
• Enable system-wide SEHOP through HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\kernel\DisableExceptionChainValidation = 0 to harden against SEH overwrite exploits.
• Application allow-listing should restrict execution of child processes spawned by the inventory binary.

# Enable SEHOP system-wide on Windows to mitigate SEH-overwrite exploitation
reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\kernel" /v DisableExceptionChainValidation /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

# Enable process-specific Exploit Protection mitigations via PowerShell
Set-ProcessMitigation -Name "Network Inventory Explorer.exe" -Enable DEP,SEHOP,ForceRelocateImages,BottomUp,HighEntropy