Important CVSS 8.8 EPSS 0.05862 2020-07 archive

Executive Summary

An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code when they load software dependencies. A local attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could inject arbitrary code to run in the context of the current user. If the current user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker could take control of the affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. To exploit this vulnerability, a local attacker would need to plant malicious content on an affected computer and wait for another user to launch Visual Studio or Visual Studio Code. The update address the vulnerability by modifying the way Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code load software dependencies.

Overview

8.8
CVSS HIGH
Important
MS Severity
Not Exploited
MS Exploit Status
Less Likely
MS Exploit Likelihood
Category Elevation of Privilege
Released Jul 14 2020
Last Updated Jul 14 2020
Publicly Disclosed No
CISA KEV Not Listed
Known Exploits None Known
EPSS Score 0.05862 — 0.92247 percentile
NVD CVSS 8.8 HIGH — differs from MSRC

CVSS Vector

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

EPSS Score

0.05862
probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
0.92247 percentile - updated 2026-06-21
View on FIRST.org

Affected Products

7 affected products
Product KB Article Severity Impact Restart Required
Azure Storage Explorer Release Notes (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 16.6 (includes 16.0 - 16.5) Release Notes (Security Update) Important Elevation of Privilege Maybe
TypeScript Release Notes (Security Update) Important Elevation of Privilege Maybe
Visual Studio Code Release Notes (Security Update) Important Elevation of Privilege Maybe

Patches

1 patch
Article Type Restart
Release Notes Security Update Maybe

Known Exploits

Acknowledgments