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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 28 Jul 2022. Known ransomware use
Windows 10 1507Operating system · Microsoft

CVE-2020-0787

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-03-12
Patch available
A vendor patch is available. No clean upgrade release — apply the published patch.
See remediation →
97/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild Ransomware Public exploit No privileges 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 the Windows Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) improperly handles symbolic links, aka 'Windows Background Intelligent Transfer Service Elevation of Privilege 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 · moderate confidence

A privilege escalation vulnerability exists in Windows Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) due to improper handling of symbolic links. An attacker who successfully exploits this vulnerability could gain elevated privileges on the affected system, potentially allowing execution of arbitrary code with SYSTEM-level privileges.

MitigationApply the Microsoft security update KB4540673 (or subsequent relevant patches) to resolve the symbolic link handling flaw in BITS. Verify BITS functionality post-patch in enterprise environments.

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
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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. Check Windows version
    Run 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' to identify the installed Windows version
    Affected if The version is Windows 10 1507, 1607, 1709, 1803, 1809, 1903, 1909, or Windows 7 (any version)
  2. Verify BITS service presence
    Run 'sc query bits' to check if the Background Intelligent Transfer Service is installed on the system
    Affected if The BITS service exists on the system (required for the vulnerability to apply)
  3. Check patch KB4540673 installation
    Run 'wmic qfe get HotFixID,InstalledOn | findstr KB4540673' or 'Get-HotFix -Id KB4540673' to see if the security update is applied
    Affected if The security update KB4540673 is NOT installed (system remains vulnerable)
  4. Check for subsequent BITS-related patches
    Run 'wmic qfe list' or 'Get-HotFix' to enumerate all installed updates and review for any newer BITS-related security patches
    Affected if No subsequent BITS security patches are installed after KB4540673

The system is affected if it runs an unpatched Windows 10 (1507-1909) or Windows 7 version AND has the BITS service present, with neither KB4540673 nor a subsequent relevant patch 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 KB4540673 (or subsequent relevant patches) to resolve the symbolic link handling flaw in BITS. Verify BITS functionality post-patch in enterprise environments.

Recommended fix High confidence

Apply Microsoft March 2020 Security Updates (MS20-03) for your specific Windows version; for long-term mitigation on Windows 7 or older Windows 10 versions, consider upgrading to a supported Windows 10 release or Windows 11

  1. Identify the current Windows version by running 'winver' in the Run dialog or 'systeminfo' in Command Prompt
  2. Open Windows Update by navigating to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update
  3. Check for and install all available security updates, specifically the March 2020 security updates (MS20-03)
  4. If automatic updates are disabled, manually download and install the applicable security update from the Microsoft Update Catalog for your specific Windows version
  5. After installation, restart the computer to complete the patching process
  6. Verify the update was installed successfully by checking the installed updates list
Caveat None for patching; however, Windows 7 and early Windows 10 versions (1507-1607) are end-of-life and should be upgraded to supported OS versions

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
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,540
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,464.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2020-0787 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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