What’s Vulnerable › Vulnerabilities

CVE-2020-16913: Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

• Severity: high (CVSS 7.2 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 in Windows when the Windows kernel-mode driver fails to properly handle objects in memory. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could run arbitrary code in kernel mode. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights.</p> <p>To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would first have to log on to the system. An attacker could then run a specially crafted application that could exploit the vulnerability and take control of an affected system.</p> <p>The update addresses this vulnerability by correcting how the Windows kernel-mode driver handles objects in memory.</p>

Affected products

• Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1607: 1709, 1803, 1809, 1903, 1909, 2004
• Microsoft Windows Server 2016: 1903, 1909, 2004
• Microsoft Windows Server 2019: all versions
• 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 10.0.0 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 10 2004: 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 1909 (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 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 10 2004 publication; Microsoft Windows Server 2019 publication; Microsoft Windows Server, version 1903 (Server Core installation) publication; Microsoft Windows Server, version 1909 (Server Core installation) publication. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

• https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2020-16913
• https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2020-16913

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