Missing quotation marks might seem trivial, but in Windows service paths, they create serious security vulnerabilities that hackers actively exploit. This episode takes you through the mechanics of unquoted service path vulnerabilities - a Windows-specific issue that continues to plague even sophisticated security products.

We start by breaking down exactly what these vulnerabilities are and why they matter. When Windows service paths contain spaces but lack proper quotation marks, the operating system attempts to execute files at each space in the path before finding the intended executable. For attackers who gain access to a system with standard user permissions, this parsing error creates a perfect opportunity to insert malicious code that Windows will automatically run with elevated privileges.

The heart of this episode features a live demonstration where we transform a regular user account into an administrator by exploiting an unquoted service path. You'll see the exact commands used to identify vulnerable services, check folder permissions, create a malicious payload, and execute the exploit. What makes this particularly valuable is seeing how simple the attack is to perform - requiring just a few PowerShell commands and a system reboot.

Perhaps most compelling is our discussion of a real-world vulnerability discovered in Palo Alto's Cortex XDR security product. This case study shows how even leading cybersecurity vendors can overlook this fundamental flaw, and how exploiting it could completely disable their endpoint protection software. We walk through how the vulnerability was responsibly disclosed and ultimately patched in version 7.7.1.

Whether you're a security professional looking to protect your environment or someone curious about practical cybersecurity vulnerabilities, this episode provides actionable knowledge about identifying, exploiting, and remediating a common yet dangerous attack vector that continues to threaten Windows environments worldwide.