Microsoft Windows Remote Desktop Gateway input validation

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as very critical, has been found in Microsoft Windows Server 2012/Server 2012 R2/Server 2016/Server 2019. This issue affects some unknown processing of the component Remote Desktop Gateway. The manipulation leads to input validation. This vulnerability is referenced as CVE-2020-0609. Remote exploitation of the attack is possible. Furthermore, an exploit is available. It is suggested to install a patch to address this issue.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Microsoft Windows Server 2012/Server 2012 R2/Server 2016/Server 2019 (Operating System). It has been rated as very critical. This issue affects an unknown functionality of the component Remote Desktop Gateway. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a input validation vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-20. The product receives input or data, but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the input has the properties that are required to process the data safely and correctly. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Windows Remote Desktop Gateway (RD Gateway) when an unauthenticated attacker connects to the target system using RDP and sends specially crafted requests, aka 'Windows Remote Desktop Gateway (RD Gateway) Remote Code Execution Vulnerability'. This CVE ID is unique from CVE-2020-0610.

The weakness was published 01/14/2020 as confirmed security update guide (Website). The advisory is shared at portal.msrc.microsoft.com. The public release has been coordinated with Microsoft. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2020-0609. The attack may be initiated remotely. No form of authentication is needed for a successful exploitation. Technical details are unknown but a public exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 03/23/2025). The advisory points out:

A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Windows Remote Desktop Gateway (RD Gateway) when an unauthenticated attacker connects to the target system using RDP and sends specially crafted requests. This vulnerability is pre-authentication and requires no user interaction. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could execute arbitrary code on the target system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights.

The exploit is available at exploit-db.com. It is declared as proof-of-concept. We expect the 0-day to have been worth approximately $25k-$100k.

Applying a patch is able to eliminate this problem. A possible mitigation has been published immediately after the disclosure of the vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Exploit-DB (47963). Similar entries are available at VDB-148629, VDB-148627 and VDB-148626. Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Microsoft

Name

• Windows

Version

• Server 2012
• Server 2012 R2
• Server 2016
• Server 2019

License

• commercial

Website

• Vendor: https://www.microsoft.com/
• Product: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows

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Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

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