CVE-2019-1267 — Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Executive Summary

An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in Microsoft Compatibility Appraiser where a configuration file, with local privileges, is vulnerable to symbolic link and hard link attacks. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could run processes in an elevated context. An attacker could then install programs; view, change or delete data. 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 writing the file to a location with an appropriate Access Control List.

Overview

7.3

CVSS HIGH

Important

MS Severity

Not Exploited

MS Exploit Status

Less Likely

MS Exploit Likelihood

Category Elevation of Privilege

Released Sep 10 2019

Last Updated Sep 10 2019

Publicly Disclosed No

CISA KEV Not Listed

Known Exploits None Known

EPSS Score 0.01104 — 0.61458 percentile

CVSS Vector

ATTACK VECTOR

Local

ATTACK COMPLEXITY

Low

PRIVILEGES REQUIRED

Low

USER INTERACTION

Required

SCOPE

Changed

Temporal Score: 6.6

EPSS Score

0.01104

probability of exploitation in the next 30 days

0.61458 percentile - updated 2026-06-20

View on FIRST.org

Affected Products

33 affected products

Product	KB Article	Severity	Impact	Restart Required
Windows 10 for 32-bit Systems	`4516070 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 for x64-based Systems	`4516070 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1607 for 32-bit Systems	`4516044 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1607 for x64-based Systems	`4516044 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1703 for 32-bit Systems	`4516068 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1703 for x64-based Systems	`4516068 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1709 for 32-bit Systems	`4516066 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1709 for ARM64-based Systems	`4516066 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1709 for x64-based Systems	`4516066 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1803 for 32-bit Systems	`4516058 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1803 for ARM64-based Systems	`4516058 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1803 for x64-based Systems	`4516058 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1809 for 32-bit Systems	`4512578 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1809 for ARM64-based Systems	`4512578 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1809 for x64-based Systems	`4512578 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1903 for 32-bit Systems	`4515384 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1903 for ARM64-based Systems	`4515384 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1903 for x64-based Systems	`4515384 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 7 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 1	`4516065 (Monthly Rollup) 4516033 (Security Only)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 7 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1	`4516065 (Monthly Rollup) 4516033 (Security Only)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 8.1 for 32-bit systems	`4516067 (Monthly Rollup) 4516064 (Security Only)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 8.1 for x64-based systems	`4516067 (Monthly Rollup) 4516064 (Security Only)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-Based Systems Service Pack 1	`4516065 (Monthly Rollup) 4516033 (Security Only)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1	`4516065 (Monthly Rollup) 4516033 (Security Only)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1 (Server Core installation)	`4516065 (Monthly Rollup) 4516033 (Security Only)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server 2012 R2	`4516067 (Monthly Rollup) 4516064 (Security Only)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server 2012 R2 (Server Core installation)	`4516067 (Monthly Rollup) 4516064 (Security Only)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server 2016	`4516044 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server 2016 (Server Core installation)	`4516044 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server 2019	`4512578 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server 2019 (Server Core installation)	`4512578 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server, version 1803 (Server Core Installation)	`4516058 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server, version 1903 (Server Core installation)	`4515384 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes

Patches

9 patches

Article	Type	Restart
`4516070`	Security Update	Yes
`4516044`	Security Update	Yes
`4516068`	Security Update	Yes
`4516066`	Security Update	Yes
`4516058`	Security Update	Yes
`4512578`	Security Update	Yes
`4515384`	Security Update	Yes
`4516065 (Monthly Rollup) 4516033`	Monthly Rollup	Yes
`4516067 (Monthly Rollup) 4516064`	Monthly Rollup	Yes

Known Exploits

No known exploits have been linked for this CVE yet. When available, exploit references will be sourced from public repositories and may be unverified, incomplete, or non-functional. Always review code carefully before use in any environment.

Acknowledgments

Ryan Wincey of Securifera

References

MSRC Advisory MITRE NVD