CVE-2020-0951 — Windows Defender Application Control Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability

Executive Summary

A security feature bypass vulnerability exists in Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC) which could allow an attacker to bypass WDAC enforcement. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could execute PowerShell commands that would be blocked by WDAC. To exploit the vulnerability, an attacker need administrator access on a local machine where PowerShell is running. The attacker could then connect to a PowerShell session and send commands to execute arbitrary code. The update addresses the vulnerability by correcting how PowerShell commands are validated when WDAC protection is enabled.

Overview

6.7

CVSS MEDIUM

Important

MS Severity

Not Exploited

MS Exploit Status

Less Likely

MS Exploit Likelihood

Category Security Feature Bypass

Released Sep 8 2020

Last Updated Sep 8 2020

Publicly Disclosed No

CISA KEV Not Listed

Known Exploits None Known

EPSS Score 0.07037 — 0.93359 percentile

NVD CVSS 6.7 MEDIUM — matches MSRC

CVSS Vector

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

ATTACK VECTOR

Local

ATTACK COMPLEXITY

Low

PRIVILEGES REQUIRED

High

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: 6.0

EPSS Score

0.07037

probability of exploitation in the next 30 days

0.93359 percentile - updated 2026-06-21

View on FIRST.org

Affected Products

29 affected products

Product	KB Article	Severity	Impact	Restart Required
PowerShell 7.0	`Release Notes (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Maybe
PowerShell 7.1	`Release Notes (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Maybe
Windows 10 Version 1607 for 32-bit Systems	`4577015 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1607 for x64-based Systems	`4577015 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1709 for 32-bit Systems	`4577041 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1709 for ARM64-based Systems	`4577041 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1709 for x64-based Systems	`4577041 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1803 for 32-bit Systems	`4577032 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1803 for ARM64-based Systems	`4577032 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1803 for x64-based Systems	`4577032 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1809 for 32-bit Systems	`4570333 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1809 for ARM64-based Systems	`4570333 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1809 for x64-based Systems	`4570333 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1903 for 32-bit Systems	`4574727 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1903 for ARM64-based Systems	`4574727 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1903 for x64-based Systems	`4574727 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1909 for 32-bit Systems	`4574727 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1909 for ARM64-based Systems	`4574727 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1909 for x64-based Systems	`4574727 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 10 Version 2004 for 32-bit Systems	`4571756 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 10 Version 2004 for ARM64-based Systems	`4571756 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows 10 Version 2004 for x64-based Systems	`4571756 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows Server 2016	`4577015 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows Server 2016 (Server Core installation)	`4577015 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows Server 2019	`4570333 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows Server 2019 (Server Core installation)	`4570333 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows Server, version 1903 (Server Core installation)	`4574727 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows Server, version 1909 (Server Core installation)	`4574727 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes
Windows Server, version 2004 (Server Core installation)	`4571756 (Security Update)`	Important	Security Feature Bypass	Yes

Patches

7 patches

Article	Type	Restart
`Release Notes`	Security Update	Maybe
`4577015`	Security Update	Yes
`4577041`	Security Update	Yes
`4577032`	Security Update	Yes
`4570333`	Security Update	Yes
`4574727`	Security Update	Yes
`4571756`	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

Paul Higinbotham

References

MSRC Advisory MITRE NVD