What’s Vulnerable › Vulnerabilities

CVE-2020-16885: Windows Storage VSP Driver Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

• Severity: medium (CVSS 4.6 v2.0)
• Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
• EPSS: 1.0% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
• Public exploit or detection template: none known
• Published: 2020-10-16 · updated 2026-06-17

Description

<p>An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when the Windows Storage VSP Driver improperly handles file operations. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain elevated privileges.</p> <p>To exploit the vulnerability, an attacker would first need code execution on a victim system. An attacker could then run a specially crafted application.</p> <p>The security update addresses the vulnerability by ensuring the Windows Storage VSP Driver properly handles file operations.</p>

Affected products

• Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1607: 1607, 1709, 1803, 1809, 1903, 2004
• Microsoft Windows Server 2016: 1903, 2004
• Microsoft Windows Server 2019: all versions
• Microsoft Windows 10 1607: from 10.0.0 before publication — fixed in publication
• Microsoft Windows 10 1709: 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 10.0.0 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 2004: from 10.0.0 before publication — fixed in publication
• Microsoft Windows Server 2016: from 10.0.0 before publication — fixed in publication
• Microsoft Windows Server 2019: 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 2004: from 10.0.0 before publication — fixed in publication

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Microsoft Windows 10 1607 publication; Microsoft Windows 10 1709 publication; Microsoft Windows 10 1803 publication; Microsoft Windows 10 publication; Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1903 for ARM64-based Systems publication; Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1903 for x64-based Systems publication; Microsoft Windows 10 2004 publication; Microsoft Windows Server 2016 publication; Microsoft Windows Server 2019 publication; Microsoft Windows Server, version 1903 (Server Core installation) publication; Microsoft Windows Server version 2004 publication. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

• https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2020-16885
• https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2020-16885

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