Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 5 Apr 2022. Known ransomware use
Windows 10 1703Operating system · Microsoft

CVE-2019-1129

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-07-15
Patch available
A vendor patch is available. No clean upgrade release — apply the published patch.
See remediation →
96/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild Ransomware Zero-click Patch available

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 · unedited
An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when Windows AppX Deployment Service (AppXSVC) improperly handles hard links, aka 'Windows Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability'. This CVE ID is unique from CVE-2019-1130.

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 confidence

A local elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in Windows AppX Deployment Service (AppXSVC) due to improper handling of hard links. An authenticated local attacker could exploit this to gain elevated privileges by manipulating hard links during AppX package deployment operations.

MitigationApply the Microsoft security update for CVE-2019-1129 via Windows Update or manual patch deployment to all affected Windows systems.

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 data
Windows 10 1703Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 10 1709Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 10 1803Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 10 1809Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 10 1903Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows Server 1803Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows Server 1903Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows Server 2019Operating system
Affected:all versions

CVSS 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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify Windows version
    Run 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' to determine the exact Windows version and build
    Affected if The version matches Windows 10 1703, 1709, 1803, 1809, 1903, Windows Server 1803, Windows Server 1903, or Windows Server 2019
  2. Verify AppXSVC service exists
    Run 'sc query AppXSVC' to query the status of the AppX Deployment Service
    Affected if The service exists and is running (state: RUNNING), indicating the vulnerable component is active
  3. Check for hard link manipulation events
    Open Event Viewer and navigate to Application and Services Logs > Microsoft > Windows > AppxDeploymentServer > Operational. Look for Event ID 500 or 501 entries around the time of suspected exploitation
    Affected if Event logs show unexpected or unauthorized AppX deployment operations involving hard links
  4. Review AppX deployment audit events
    Run 'auditpol /get /subcategory:"Kernel Object"' and check Security event logs for Event ID 4656 (handle request) with ObjectType=HardLink on Appx packages
    Affected if Audit logs reveal creation of hard links to AppX package files by non-system accounts

A system is affected if it runs any of the listed Windows 10 or Windows Server versions AND has the AppXSVC service enabled, with the vulnerability present until the corresponding security patch is applied.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Patch available Apply the vendor patch
Interim mitigation

Apply the Microsoft security update for CVE-2019-1129 via Windows Update or manual patch deployment to all affected Windows systems.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence
  1. Open Windows Update (Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update)
  2. Click 'Check for updates' to download and install the latest security updates
  3. Restart the computer if prompted after updates are installed
  4. Verify the update was successfully installed by checking Windows Update history

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Windows 10 1703 Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-1129 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-1129 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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