Microsoft Windows up to Server 2019 Windows Defender Application Control permission assignment

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as critical has been reported in Microsoft Windows. Affected is an unknown function of the component Windows Defender Application Control. This manipulation causes permission assignment. This vulnerability is registered as CVE-2020-0951. The attack needs to be launched locally. No exploit is available. Applying a patch is the recommended action to fix this issue.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical was found in Microsoft Windows (Operating System). Affected by this vulnerability is an unknown code of the component Windows Defender Application Control. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a permission assignment vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-732. The product specifies permissions for a security-critical resource in a way that allows that resource to be read or modified by unintended actors. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

<p>A security feature bypass vulnerability exists in Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC) which could allow an attacker to bypass WDAC enforcement. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could execute PowerShell commands that would be blocked by WDAC.</p> <p>To exploit the vulnerability, an attacker need administrator access on a local machine where PowerShell is running. The attacker could then connect to a PowerShell session and send commands to execute arbitrary code.</p> <p>The update addresses the vulnerability by correcting how PowerShell commands are validated when WDAC protection is enabled.</p>

The weakness was published 09/08/2020 as confirmed security update guide (Website). The advisory is shared at portal.msrc.microsoft.com. The public release has been coordinated with Microsoft. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2020-0951. An attack has to be approached locally. The exploitation requires an enhanced level of successful authentication. Neither technical details nor an exploit are publicly available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $5k-$25k at the moment (estimation calculated on 02/24/2026). The advisory points out:

A security feature bypass vulnerability exists in Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC) which could allow an attacker to bypass WDAC enforcement. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could execute PowerShell commands that would be blocked by WDAC.

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

Similar entries are available at VDB-160889, VDB-160887, VDB-160886 and VDB-160884. If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

Productinfo

Type

• Operating System

Vendor

• Microsoft

Name

• Windows

Version

• 10 1607
• 10 1709
• 10 1803
• 10 1809
• 10 1903
• 10 1909
• 10 2004
• Server 1903
• Server 1909
• Server 2004
• Server 2016
• Server 2019

License

• commercial

Website

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

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If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

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