CVE-2016-0019
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedThe Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) service implementation in Microsoft Windows 10 Gold and 1511 allows remote attackers to bypass intended access restrictions and establish sessions for blank-password accounts via a modified RDP client, aka "Windows Remote Desktop Protocol Security Bypass Vulnerability."
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceThe vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 10 Gold and 1511 allows remote attackers to bypass intended access restrictions in the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) service. By using a modified RDP client, attackers can establish RDP sessions for accounts that have blank passwords, effectively bypassing authentication controls that should prevent such access.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE dataall versions= 1511CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Windows 10 versionRun 'winver' or 'systeminfo' from command prompt to determine the installed Windows 10 version and build numberAffected if The system is running any version of Windows 10 or specifically version 1511 (Build 10586)
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Verify RDP service statusOpen Services (services.msc) and check if 'Remote Desktop Services' or 'Remote Desktop Configuration' is running, or run 'Get-Service termservice' in PowerShellAffected if RDP is enabled and the service is running on the system
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Check for user accounts with blank passwordsRun 'net user' to list all local accounts, then for each account run 'net user [username]' to check if password is blank; in PowerShell use 'Get-LocalUser | Select Name, PasswordRequired' and manually inspect accounts where PasswordRequired is FalseAffected if Any local user account exists with a blank or no password
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Confirm RDP network accessibilityRun 'netstat -an | findstr :3389' to check if RDP port 3389 is listening, or use PowerShell 'Get-NetTCPConnection -LocalPort 3389'Affected if RDP port 3389 is listening and accessible from the network
The system is vulnerable if it runs Windows 10 (any version or 1511), has RDP enabled, and contains any user account with a blank password accessible over the network.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataApply the Microsoft security update for CVE-2016-0019 to affected Windows 10 systems, and ensure all user accounts—especially those with RDP access—have strong, non-blank passwords. Consider disabling RDP access for accounts with blank passwords as an interim measure.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-0019 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2016-0019 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data