CVE-2020-1546 — Windows Backup Engine Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Executive Summary

An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when the Windows Backup Engine improperly handles memory. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would first have to gain execution on the victim system. An attacker could then run a specially crafted application to elevate privileges. The security update addresses the vulnerability by correcting how the Windows Backup Engine handles memory.

Overview

7.8

CVSS HIGH

Important

MS Severity

Not Exploited

MS Exploit Status

Less Likely

MS Exploit Likelihood

Category Elevation of Privilege

Released Aug 11 2020

Last Updated Aug 11 2020

Publicly Disclosed No

CISA KEV Not Listed

Known Exploits None Known

EPSS Score 0.00912 — 0.55329 percentile

NVD CVSS 7.8 HIGH — matches MSRC

CVSS Vector

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

ATTACK VECTOR

Local

ATTACK COMPLEXITY

Low

PRIVILEGES REQUIRED

Low

USER INTERACTION

None

SCOPE

Unchanged

CONFIDENTIALITY

High

INTEGRITY

High

AVAILABILITY

High

EXPLOIT CODE MATURITY

Proof-of-Concept

REMEDIATION LEVEL

Official Fix

REPORT CONFIDENCE

Confirmed

Temporal Score: 7.0

EPSS Score

0.00912

probability of exploitation in the next 30 days

0.55329 percentile - updated 2026-06-21

View on FIRST.org

Affected Products

23 affected products

Product	KB Article	Severity	Impact	Restart Required
Windows 10 for 32-bit Systems	`4571692 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 for x64-based Systems	`4571692 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1607 for 32-bit Systems	`4571694 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1607 for x64-based Systems	`4571694 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1709 for 32-bit Systems	`4571741 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1709 for ARM64-based Systems	`4571741 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1709 for x64-based Systems	`4571741 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1803 for 32-bit Systems	`4571709 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1803 for ARM64-based Systems	`4571709 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1803 for x64-based Systems	`4571709 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1809 for 32-bit Systems	`4565349 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1809 for ARM64-based Systems	`4565349 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1809 for x64-based Systems	`4565349 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1903 for 32-bit Systems	`4565351 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1903 for ARM64-based Systems	`4565351 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1903 for x64-based Systems	`4565351 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1909 for 32-bit Systems	`4565351 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1909 for ARM64-based Systems	`4565351 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1909 for x64-based Systems	`4565351 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 2004 for 32-bit Systems	`4566782 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 2004 for ARM64-based Systems	`4566782 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 2004 for x64-based Systems	`4566782 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 7 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 1 4571729 (Monthly Rollup) 4571719 (Security Only) Important Elevation of Privilege 4565524 Base: 7.8 Temporal: 7.0 Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:P/RL:O/RC:C Yes 4571729 4571719 Windows 7 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1 4571729 (Monthly Rollup) 4571719 (Security Only) Important Elevation of Privilege 4565524 Base: 7.8 Temporal: 7.0 Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:P/RL:O/RC:C Yes 4571729 4571719 Windows 8.1 for 32-bit systems 4571703 (Monthly Rollup) 4571723 (Security Only) Important Elevation of Privilege 4565541 Base: 7.8 Temporal: 7.0 Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:P/RL:O/RC:C Yes 4571703 4571723 Windows 8.1 for x64-based systems 4571703 (Monthly Rollup) 4571723 (Security Only) Important Elevation of Privilege 4565541 Base: 7.8 Temporal: 7.0 Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:P/RL:O/RC:C Yes 4571703 4571723 Windows RT 8.1	`4571703 (Monthly Rollup)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes

Patches

8 patches

Article	Type	Restart
`4571692`	Security Update	Yes
`4571694`	Security Update	Yes
`4571741`	Security Update	Yes
`4571709`	Security Update	Yes
`4565349`	Security Update	Yes
`4565351`	Security Update	Yes
`4566782`	Security Update	Yes
`4571703`	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

Yuki Chen

References

MSRC Advisory MITRE NVD