CVE-2020-37204 in Nsauditor RemShutdown
Summary
by MITRE • 02/11/2026
RemShutdown 2.9.0.0 contains a denial of service vulnerability in its registration key input that allows attackers to crash the application. Attackers can generate a 1000-character buffer payload and paste it into the registration key field to trigger an application crash.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/29/2026
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2020-37204 affects RemShutdown version 2.9.0.0, a remote shutdown utility designed for network administration tasks. This denial of service flaw resides within the application's registration key input validation mechanism, representing a critical weakness that undermines the software's stability and reliability. The vulnerability specifically manifests when the application processes user-supplied registration key data without adequate input sanitization or length validation, creating an exploitable condition that can be leveraged by malicious actors to disrupt service availability.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient bounds checking and input validation within the registration key field processing logic. When an attacker submits a 1000-character payload directly into the registration key input field, the application fails to properly handle this excessive input length, leading to a buffer overflow condition or memory corruption that ultimately results in application termination. This type of vulnerability falls under the CWE-121 buffer overflow category, specifically manifesting as a stack-based buffer overflow due to the lack of proper input length validation. The flaw demonstrates poor defensive programming practices and highlights the absence of input sanitization mechanisms that should be implemented to prevent such conditions.
From an operational perspective, this denial of service vulnerability presents significant risks to system administrators and network operators who rely on RemShutdown for remote system management tasks. An attacker capable of accessing the application interface can easily disrupt service availability by triggering the crash condition, potentially causing unauthorized shutdowns of remote systems or simply rendering the management tool unusable. The impact extends beyond simple service disruption as it could be exploited in conjunction with other attack vectors to create more complex compromise scenarios. The vulnerability's accessibility through simple clipboard paste operations makes it particularly dangerous as it requires minimal technical expertise to exploit, aligning with ATT&CK technique T1499.004 for network denial of service attacks.
The mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should prioritize immediate application patching and updates from the vendor to address the input validation deficiencies. System administrators should implement network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure to untrusted users who could potentially exploit this vulnerability. Additionally, deploying intrusion detection systems that monitor for unusual input patterns and implementing application-level firewalls that can filter malicious payloads would provide additional protective layers. Input validation should be enhanced to include strict length limits for registration fields, proper buffer management, and exception handling mechanisms that prevent crash conditions. Organizations should also consider implementing application whitelisting policies to restrict execution of unpatched versions of RemShutdown and establish monitoring procedures to detect potential exploitation attempts. The vulnerability underscores the importance of robust input validation practices and defensive coding techniques as outlined in secure coding guidelines and industry best practices for preventing buffer overflow conditions and maintaining application stability.