CVE-2020-11443
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 Zoom IT installer for Windows (ZoomInstallerFull.msi) prior to version 4.6.10 deletes files located in %APPDATA%\Zoom before installing an updated version of the client. Standard users are able to write to this directory, and can write links to other directories on the machine. As the installer runs with SYSTEM privileges and follows these links, a user can cause the installer to delete files that otherwise cannot be deleted by the user.
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 Zoom IT installer for Windows (ZoomInstallerFull.msi) prior to version 4.6.10 deletes files in %APPDATA%\Zoom before installing an update. Standard users can write to this directory and create symbolic links to other locations. Since the installer runs with SYSTEM privileges and follows these symlinks, an unprivileged user can cause the installer to delete files in protected directories they normally cannot access, enabling local privilege escalation.
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< 4.6.10CVSS 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
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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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Locate the Zoom IT installer fileSearch for ZoomInstallerFull.msi on your system, typically found in IT deployment shares, software distribution folders, or download directories. Right-click the file, select Properties, and check the Details tab for the version information.Affected if The installer version shown is less than 4.6.10 (for example, 4.6.9 or earlier)
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Check if Zoom has been installed or updated via the IT installerOpen File Explorer and navigate to %APPDATA%\Zoom. Verify this directory exists, which indicates the Zoom client has been installed or updated.Affected if The %APPDATA%\Zoom directory exists and the installer used was version prior to 4.6.10
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Verify directory permissions on the Zoom appdata folderRight-click the %APPDATA%\Zoom folder, select Properties, then Security tab. Check if standard (non-admin) users have Write or Modify permissions to this directory.Affected if Standard users have Write or Modify permissions to %APPDATA%\Zoom and the vulnerable installer was used
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Identify the installed Zoom client version from the installer logCheck Windows Installer logs in %TEMP% or %APPDATA%\Zoom\logs for installation records that show which installer version was used for the last update.Affected if Log files show the installer version was less than 4.6.10
Your environment is affected if the Zoom IT installer (ZoomInstallerFull.msi) version used to deploy or update Zoom is below 4.6.10 and standard users can write to the %APPDATA%\Zoom directory.
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 data4.6.10
Update to Zoom version 4.6.10 or later. Ensure IT-managed deployments use the patched installer to prevent local privilege escalation via symlink attacks.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-11443 — 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-2020-11443 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
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