CVE-2020-0820 — Media Foundation Information Disclosure Vulnerability

Executive Summary

An information disclosure vulnerability exists when Media Foundation improperly handles objects in memory. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could obtain information to further compromise the user’s system. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would have to log onto an affected system and open a specially crafted file. In a web-based attack scenario, an attacker could host a website (or leverage a compromised website that accepts or hosts user-provided content) that contains a specially crafted file that is designed to exploit the vulnerability. However, an attacker would have no way to force the user to visit the website. Instead, an attacker would have to convince the user to click a link, typically by way of an enticement in an email or Instant Messenger message, and then convince the user to open the specially crafted file. The update addresses the vulnerability by correcting how Media Foundation handles objects in memory.

Overview

5.5

CVSS MEDIUM

Important

MS Severity

Not Exploited

MS Exploit Status

Less Likely

MS Exploit Likelihood

Category Information Disclosure

Released Mar 10 2020

Last Updated Mar 10 2020

Publicly Disclosed No

CISA KEV Not Listed

Known Exploits None Known

EPSS Score 0.01266 — 0.659 percentile

NVD CVSS 5.5 MEDIUM — matches MSRC

CVSS Vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N/E:P/RL:O/RC:C

ATTACK VECTOR

Local

ATTACK COMPLEXITY

Low

PRIVILEGES REQUIRED

Low

USER INTERACTION

None

SCOPE

Unchanged

CONFIDENTIALITY

High

INTEGRITY

None

AVAILABILITY

None

EXPLOIT CODE MATURITY

Proof-of-Concept

REMEDIATION LEVEL

Official Fix

REPORT CONFIDENCE

Confirmed

Temporal Score: 5.0

EPSS Score

0.01266

probability of exploitation in the next 30 days

0.659 percentile - updated 2026-06-21

View on FIRST.org

Affected Products

26 affected products

Product	KB Article	Severity	Impact	Restart Required
Windows 10 for 32-bit Systems	`4540693 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Yes
Windows 10 for x64-based Systems	`4540693 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1607 for 32-bit Systems	`4540670 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1607 for x64-based Systems	`4540670 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1709 for 32-bit Systems	`4540681 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1709 for ARM64-based Systems	`4540681 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1709 for x64-based Systems	`4540681 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1803 for 32-bit Systems	`4540689 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1803 for ARM64-based Systems	`4540689 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1803 for x64-based Systems	`4540689 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1809 for 32-bit Systems	`4538461 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1809 for ARM64-based Systems	`4538461 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1809 for x64-based Systems	`4538461 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1903 for 32-bit Systems	`4540673 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1903 for ARM64-based Systems	`4540673 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1903 for x64-based Systems	`4540673 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1909 for 32-bit Systems	`4540673 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1909 for ARM64-based Systems	`4540673 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1909 for x64-based Systems	`4540673 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Yes
Windows Server 2016	`4540670 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Yes
Windows Server 2016 (Server Core installation)	`4540670 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Yes
Windows Server 2019	`4538461 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Yes
Windows Server 2019 (Server Core installation)	`4538461 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Yes
Windows Server, version 1803 (Server Core Installation)	`4540689 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Yes
Windows Server, version 1903 (Server Core installation)	`4540673 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Yes
Windows Server, version 1909 (Server Core installation)	`4540673 (Security Update)`	Important	Information Disclosure	Yes

Patches

6 patches

Article	Type	Restart
`4540693`	Security Update	Yes
`4540670`	Security Update	Yes
`4540681`	Security Update	Yes
`4540689`	Security Update	Yes
`4538461`	Security Update	Yes
`4540673`	Security Update	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

@dnpushme, Ke Liu

References

MSRC Advisory MITRE NVD