Important CVSS 5.5 EPSS 0.0076 2020-04 archive

Executive Summary

An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when the Visual Studio Extension Installer Service improperly handles file operations. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could delete files in arbitrary locations with elevated permissions. To exploit the 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. The update addresses the vulnerability by correcting how the Visual Studio Extension Installer Service handles file operations.

Overview

5.5
CVSS MEDIUM
Important
MS Severity
Not Exploited
MS Exploit Status
Less Likely
MS Exploit Likelihood
Category Elevation of Privilege
Released Apr 14 2020
Last Updated Apr 14 2020
Publicly Disclosed No
CISA KEV Not Listed
Known Exploits None Known
EPSS Score 0.0076 — 0.50436 percentile
NVD CVSS 5.5 MEDIUM — differs from MSRC

CVSS Vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
ATTACK VECTOR
Local
ATTACK COMPLEXITY
Low
PRIVILEGES REQUIRED
Low
USER INTERACTION
None
SCOPE
Unchanged

EPSS Score

0.0076
probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
0.50436 percentile - updated 2026-06-21
View on FIRST.org

Affected Products

5 affected products
Product KB Article Severity Impact Restart Required
Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 Update 3 4540102 (Security Update) Important Elevation of Privilege Maybe
Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 version 15.9 (includes 15.0 - 15.8) Release Notes (Security Update) Important Elevation of Privilege Maybe
Microsoft Visual Studio 2019 version 16.0 Release Notes (Security Update) Important Elevation of Privilege Maybe
Microsoft Visual Studio 2019 version 16.4 (includes 16.0 - 16.3) Release Notes (Security Update) Important Elevation of Privilege Maybe
Microsoft Visual Studio 2019 version 16.5 Release Notes (Security Update) Important Elevation of Privilege Maybe

Patches

2 patches
Article Type Restart
4540102 Security Update Maybe
Release Notes Security Update Maybe

Known Exploits

Acknowledgments