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Windows 10Operating system · Microsoft

CVE-2020-1467

CRITICAL · 10.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-08-17
Patch available
A vendor patch is available. No clean upgrade release — apply the published patch.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges 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 improperly handles hard links. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could overwrite a targeted file leading to an elevated status. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would first have to log on to the system. An attacker could then run a specially crafted application that could exploit the vulnerability and take control of an affected system. The security update addresses the vulnerability by correcting how Windows handles hard links.

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

This is a Windows elevation of privilege vulnerability where improper handling of hard links allows an authenticated attacker to overwrite targeted files and gain elevated (administrative) system privileges. The vulnerability requires local access - the attacker must first log on to the system before running the exploit.

MitigationApply the relevant Microsoft security update (KB4565349 for August 2020) to all affected Windows systems and verify the patch is successfully deployed.

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 10Operating system
Affected:= 1607= 1809= 1903= 1909= 2004
Windows 7Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 8.1Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows Rt 8.1Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows Server 2008Operating system
Affected:all versions= r2
Windows Server 2012Operating system
Affected:all versions= r2
Windows Server 2016Operating system
Affected:all versions= 1903= 1909= 2004
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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/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 installed Windows version
    Run 'winver' from the command prompt or check System Properties to see the exact Windows version and build number
    Affected if The version matches Windows 10 versions 1607, 1809, 1903, 1909, or 2004; Windows 7 any version; Windows 8.1 any version; Windows RT 8.1 any version; Windows Server 2008 any version; Windows Server 2008 R2 any version; Windows Server 2012 any version; Windows Server 2012 R2 any version; Windows Serve
  2. Verify if security update KB4565349 is installed
    Open Control Panel > Programs and Features > View installed updates, or run 'wmic qfe list' from command prompt, and search for KB4565349
    Affected if KB4565349 is NOT listed among installed updates - the system is missing the August 2020 security patch that addresses this vulnerability
  3. Check PowerShell for patch status
    Run 'Get-HotFix -Id KB4565349' in PowerShell to query the presence of this specific update
    Affected if The command returns an error or empty result, indicating the patch is not installed
  4. Confirm user account type
    Open Control Panel > User Accounts to determine if you are running as a standard user or administrator
    Affected if You are running as a standard user AND the system is unpatched - the vulnerability allows such users to gain administrative privileges through hard link manipulation

The system is affected if it runs an affected Windows version AND security update KB4565349 is not 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 relevant Microsoft security update (KB4565349 for August 2020) to all affected Windows systems and verify the patch is successfully deployed.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence
  1. Open Windows Update by clicking the Start button and selecting Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update
  2. Click Check for updates to see if the security update for CVE-2020-1467 is available
  3. If an update is available, click Install now to apply the security update
  4. Restart your computer after the update installs
  5. Verify the update was installed successfully by checking Windows Update history

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

Fix this in Windows 10 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
Get the patch applied

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,088.

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-2020-1467 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