dbcve.org
Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 3 May 2022.
Windows 10 1507Operating system · Microsoft

CVE-2020-0683

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-02-11
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 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 in the Windows Installer when MSI packages process symbolic links, aka 'Windows Installer Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability'. This CVE ID is unique from CVE-2020-0686.

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 the Windows Installer component when MSI packages process symbolic links. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability could run arbitrary code with elevated privileges by tricking a user into installing a malicious MSI package that contains specially crafted symbolic links.

MitigationApply the Microsoft security update for CVE-2020-0683 via Windows Update or manually download the patch from Microsoft's Security Update Guide. Until patched, restrict installation privileges and only use MSI packages from trusted sources.

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 1507Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 10 1607Operating 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 10 1909Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 7Operating 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 check System Properties to see the Windows version and build number
    Affected if The version is Windows 10 1507, 1607, 1709, 1803, 1809, 1903, 1909 or Windows 7 (all versions)
  2. Check if security update is installed
    Open Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features > View installed updates, or run 'wmic qfe list' to list installed hotfixes. Search for the CVE-2020-0683 update from Microsoft's Security Update Guide
    Affected if The security update for CVE-2020-0683 is not listed among installed updates
  3. Verify Windows Installer service status
    Open Services (services.msc) and check that the Windows Installer service exists and is configured appropriately for your environment
    Affected if The service is present and may execute during MSI package installations (this is expected behavior but indicates the attack surface exists)
  4. Audit recent MSI package installations
    Review installation logs in %TEMP% for recent MSI installations, or check Event Viewer > Application logs for Windows Installer events
    Affected if Any MSI packages were installed from untrusted or unknown sources since the patch release date

The system is affected if it runs an affected Windows version (Windows 10 1507-1909 or Windows 7) and the CVE-2020-0683 security update has not been installed.

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
Vendor patch portal.msrc.microsoft.com →
Interim mitigation

Apply the Microsoft security update for CVE-2020-0683 via Windows Update or manually download the patch from Microsoft's Security Update Guide. Until patched, restrict installation privileges and only use MSI packages from trusted sources.

Recommended fix High confidence

Windows 10 version 2004 or later (or Windows 11)

  1. Open Windows Update by clicking Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update
  2. Click 'Check for updates' to download and install the February 2020 security updates
  3. Alternatively, manually download and install the appropriate security update for your Windows version from the Microsoft Update Catalog
  4. For Windows 10 1903/1909: Install KB4532693
  5. For Windows 10 1809: Install KB4532691
  6. For Windows 10 1803: Install KB4532695
  7. For Windows 10 1709: Install KB4537816
  8. For Windows 10 1607: Install KB4537810
Caveat Ensure compatibility with existing applications before upgrading major versions; Windows 7 extended support ended January 2020, consider migrating to a supported Windows version

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

Fix this in Windows 10 1507 Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-0683 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2020-0683 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