Microsoft Windows up to Server 2019 NTFS privileges management

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as critical has been reported in Microsoft Windows. The impacted element is an unknown function of the component NTFS. The manipulation leads to privileges management. This vulnerability is documented as CVE-2020-0838. The attack can be initiated remotely. There is not any exploit available. It is recommended to apply a patch to fix this issue.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Microsoft Windows (Operating System) and classified as critical. This issue affects an unknown code of the component NTFS. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a privileges management vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-269. The product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

<p>An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when NTFS improperly checks access. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could run processes in an elevated context.</p> <p>To exploit the vulnerability, an attacker would first have to log on to the system, and then run a specially crafted application to take control over the affected system.</p> <p>The security update addresses the vulnerability by correcting how NTFS checks access.</p>

The weakness was released 09/08/2020 as confirmed security update guide (Website). It is possible to read the advisory at portal.msrc.microsoft.com. The public release was coordinated with Microsoft. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2020-0838. The attack may be initiated remotely. A simple authentication is needed for exploitation. The technical details are unknown and an exploit is not publicly available. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $5k-$25k at the moment (estimation calculated on 02/24/2026). The attack technique deployed by this issue is T1068 according to MITRE ATT&CK. The advisory points out:

An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when NTFS improperly checks access. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could run processes in an elevated context.

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

Entries connected to this vulnerability are available at VDB-160875, VDB-160874, VDB-160873 and VDB-160872. Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Microsoft

Name

• Windows

Version

• 7 SP1
• 8.1
• 10
• 10 1607
• 10 1709
• 10 1803
• 10 1809
• 10 1903
• 10 1909
• 10 2004
• RT 8.1
• Server 1903
• Server 1909
• Server 2004
• Server 2008 R2 SP1
• Server 2008 SP2
• 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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Entryinfo

Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.

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