Microsoft OneDrive
CVE-2020-16851 — OneDrive for Windows Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Executive Summary
An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when the OneDrive for Windows Desktop application improperly handles symbolic links. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could overwrite a targeted file with an elevated status. To exploit this 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 and delete a targeted file with an elevated status. The update addresses this vulnerability by correcting where the OneDrive updater performs file writes while running with elevation.
Overview
7.1
CVSS HIGH
Important
MS Severity
Not Exploited
MS Exploit Status
Less Likely
MS Exploit Likelihood
CVSS Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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
None
INTEGRITY
High
AVAILABILITY
High
EXPLOIT CODE MATURITY
Proof-of-Concept
REMEDIATION LEVEL
Official Fix
REPORT CONFIDENCE
Confirmed
Temporal Score: 6.4
EPSS Score
0.00975
probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
0.57459 percentile - updated 2026-06-21
View on FIRST.org
Affected Products
1 affected product
| Product | KB Article | Severity | Impact | Restart Required |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OneDrive for Windows | Release Notes (Security Update) |
Important | Elevation of Privilege | Maybe |
Patches
1 patch
| Article | Type | Restart |
|---|---|---|
Release Notes |
Security Update | Maybe |
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
Zhiniang Peng (@edwardzpeng) and Fangming Gu (@afang5472)
References
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