What’s Vulnerable › Vulnerabilities

CVE-2020-1139: Windows Runtime Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

• Severity: high (CVSS 7.8 v3.1)
• Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
• EPSS: 2.6% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
• Public exploit or detection template: none known
• Published: 2020-05-21 · updated 2026-08-19

Description

An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when the Windows Runtime improperly handles objects in memory. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could run arbitrary code in an elevated context. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by running a specially crafted application on the victim system. The update addresses the vulnerability by correcting the way the Windows Runtime handles objects in memory.

Affected products

• Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1607: 1607, 1709, 1803, 1809, 1903, 1909
• Microsoft Windows Server 2016: 1803, 1903, 1909
• Microsoft Windows Server 2019: all versions
• Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1507: from 10.0.10240.0 before publication — fixed in publication
• Microsoft Windows 10 1607: from 10.0.14393.0 before publication — fixed in publication
• Microsoft Windows 10 1709: from 10.0.0 before publication — fixed in publication
• Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1709 for 32-bit Systems: from 10.0.0 before publication — fixed in publication
• Microsoft Windows 10 1803: from 10.0.0 before publication — fixed in publication
• Microsoft Windows 10: from 10.0.17763.0 before publication — fixed in publication
• Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1903 for 32-bit Systems: from 10.0.0 before publication — fixed in publication
• Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1903 for ARM64-based Systems: from 10.0.0 before publication — fixed in publication
• Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1903 for x64-based Systems: from 10.0.0 before publication — fixed in publication
• Microsoft Windows 10 1909: from 10.0.0 before publication — fixed in publication
• Microsoft Windows Server 2016: from 10.0.14393.0 before publication — fixed in publication
• Microsoft Windows Server 2019: from 10.0.17763.0 before publication — fixed in publication
• Microsoft Windows Server, version 1803 (Server Core Installation): from 10.0.0 before publication — fixed in publication
• Microsoft Windows Server, version 1903 (Server Core installation): from 10.0.0 before publication — fixed in publication
• Microsoft Windows Server, version 1909 (Server Core installation): from 10.0.0 before publication — fixed in publication

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1507 publication; Microsoft Windows 10 1607 publication; Microsoft Windows 10 1709 publication; Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1709 for 32-bit Systems publication; Microsoft Windows 10 1803 publication; Microsoft Windows 10 publication; Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1903 for 32-bit Systems publication; Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1903 for ARM64-based Systems publication; Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1903 for x64-based Systems publication; Microsoft Windows 10 1909 publication; Microsoft Windows Server 2016 publication; Microsoft Windows Server 2019 publication. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

• https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2020-1139
• https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2020-1139

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