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Full vulnerability report · 2020
CVE-2020-0790High confidence

Microsoft splwow64 Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Microsoft · Windows 10 Version 1803

7.8HighCVSS 3.1
Recommended action
Within 7 days

High technical severity; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance.

Patch available
Optional official sources

National CERT insights
?CERT means Computer Emergency Response Team; CSIRT is the closely related term Computer Security Incident Response Team.

Select the national-authority views to include. The exact source language is shown on each matched advisory. Your choice is remembered on this device and encoded in the shareable URL.

Official European source

ENISA European Vulnerability Database

Official EUVD identifiers, advisory evidence and known-exploited context. Missing fields are not treated as evidence of low risk.

1 current
ENISA EUVD identifier

EUVD-2020-2277

No EUVD known-exploited evidence

ENISA has published the identifier mapping but no EUVD description has been stored yet.

EUVD state
Present in the current official mapping
Known exploitation
Not present in the current ENISA EUVD known-exploited dataset. This is not proof of no exploitation.
ENISA score
Not supplied in the stored EUVD record
Advisory evidence
No linked advisory details stored yet
Recommended actionWithin 7 days

High technical severity; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance.

Patch available
01

What, why and how

<p>A local elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in how splwow64.exe handles certain calls. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could elevate privileges on an affected system from low-integrity to medium-integrity.</p> <p>This vulnerability by itself does not allow arbitrary code execution; however, it could allow arbitrary code to be run if the attacker uses it in combination with another vulnerability (such as a remote code execution vulnerability or another elevation of privilege vulnerability) that is capable of leveraging the elevated privileges when code execution is attempted.</p> <p>The security update addresses the vulnerability by ensuring splwow64.exe properly handles these calls..</p>

What

<p>A local elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in how splwow64.exe handles certain calls. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could elevate privileges on an affected system from low-integrity to medium-integrity.</p> <p>This vulnerability by itself does not allow arbitrary code execution; however, it could allow arbitrary code to be run if the attacker uses it in combination with another vulnerability (such as a remote code execution vulnerability or another elevation of privilege vulnerability) that is capable of leveraging the elevated privileges when code execution is attempted.</p> <p>The security update addresses the vulnerability by ensuring splwow64.exe properly handles these calls..</p>

Why

The current structured CVE record identifies a security weakness, but the root cause requires confirmation in the linked vendor material.

How

An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may execute code or commands in the affected security context.

What

<p>A local elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in how splwow64.exe handles certain calls. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could elevate privileges on an affected system from low-integrity to medium-integrity.</p> <p>This vulnerability by itself does not allow arbitrary code execution; however, it could allow arbitrary code to be run if the attacker uses it in combination with another vulnerability (such as a remote code execution vulnerability or another elevation of privilege vulnerability) that is capable of leveraging the elevated privileges when code execution is attempted.</p> <p>The security update addresses the vulnerability by ensuring splwow64.exe properly handles these calls..</p>

Why

The current structured CVE record identifies a security weakness, but the root cause requires confirmation in the linked vendor material.

How

An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may execute code or commands in the affected security context.

02

Exploit reality and attack path

CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.

Observed exploitation
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
No confirmed evidence

No CISA KEV match was present at the last successful refresh. This means no confirmation from that source, not proof of no exploitation.

Public PoC / exploit material
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
None recorded

No exploit-tagged reference or CISA SSVC proof-of-concept state is currently recorded. Research may still exist outside the structured feeds.

Likely attack path
local access → vulnerable operation → execute code or commands in the affected security context
Attack surface
Local
Privileges required
Low: a basic authenticated account is required
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low: no specialised conditions are recorded
Security boundary
Unchanged: impact remains within the vulnerable component's security authority
Weakness
?CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration.
CWE not yet assigned
CVSS vector
?CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:P/RL:O/RC:C

Common Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.

AVLocalAttack vector: The attacker needs local access to the vulnerable system.ACLowAttack complexity: No specialised conditions are required beyond attacker-controlled input.PRLowPrivileges required: The attacker needs basic user-level privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CHighConfidentiality impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.IHighIntegrity impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.AHighAvailability impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.
Post-exploitation / living off the land
After compromise, an attacker may use built-in shells, scripting engines, scheduled tasks and native network utilities for discovery, persistence or movement. This is a plausible LoTL path, not evidence that it has occurred for every attack.
Remote code executionPrivilege escalation
A

Official authority intelligence

Only matched European and national findings are included. Language selectors and unavailable sources are omitted.

CERT-FR · French · CERTFR-2020-AVI-562Multiples vulnérabilités dans Microsoft Windows

pour l'obtention des correctifs (cf. section Documentation). Documentation Bulletin de sécurité Microsoft du 08 septembre 2020 https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/fr-FR/security-guidance Référence CVE CVE-2020-0648 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-0648 Référence CVE CVE-2020-0664 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-0664 Référence CVE CVE-2020-0718 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-0718 Référence CVE CVE-2020-0761 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-0761 Référence CVE CVE-2020-0766 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-0766 Référence CVE CVE-2020-0782 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-0782 Référence CVE CVE-2020-0790 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-0790 Référence CVE CVE-2020-0805 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-0805 Référence CVE CVE-2020-0836 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-0836 Référence CVE CVE-2020-0837 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-0837 Référence CVE CVE-2020-0838 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-0838 Référence CVE CVE-2020-0839 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-0839 Référence CVE CVE-2020-0856 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-0856 Référence CVE CVE-2020-0870 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-0870 Référence CVE CVE-2020-0875 https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-0875 Ré

Official advisory
03

Patch and workaround

Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.

Status
?Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Patch available
Affected
10.0.0 < publication
Fixed
An authoritative update reference is available, but the fixed version is not recorded in the structured CVE fields. Check the linked vendor advisory for the applicable release.
Action
Review the linked authoritative reference and apply the recorded fixed release appropriate to the affected product branch.
Workaround
No verified workaround is recorded. Limit untrusted access and use least privilege until authoritative guidance is available.
04

Evidence and provenance

Published 11 Sept 2020 · Last source change 4 Aug 2024, 06:11 UTC · CWE not yet assigned

CVE recordCVE.org · 5.1
CVSS sourceCNA
EPSS source
?The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.
FIRST · tracked since 2026-08-14
European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2020-2277
Product sourceCNA
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceUnavailable
NVD statusNVD modified after enrichment

Missing structured fields: CWE classification. Missing data is not evidence of low risk; review the primary advisory.

Material change intelligence

What changed after publication

View recent updates →

No material field changes have been recorded since change tracking began. Routine source refreshes and cosmetic edits are intentionally excluded.

Material fields only · duplicate refreshes suppressed · history retained for the configured operational retention period
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
CVE
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
CVSS
Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
EPSS
Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
CWE
Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
CNA
CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
CISA ADP
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
NVD
National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
CERT / CSIRT
A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
PoC
Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
CSAF
Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
LoTL
Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.
Free version - for non-commercial use only.CVE-2020-0790 · cve.blacktree.nl