CVE-2020-1012

high Microsoft
CVSS v3 Base Score
8.8
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score
15.3%
Exploitation probability in 30 days
Top 5% most likely to be exploited
Attack Characteristics
Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
Required
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Published: September 11, 2020 (2071 days ago)
Last Modified: February 23, 2026
Vendor: Microsoft

Description

<p>An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in the way that the Wininit.dll handles objects in memory. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could execute code with elevated permissions.</p> <p>There are multiple ways an attacker could exploit the vulnerability:</p> <ul> <li><p>In a web-based attack scenario, an attacker could host a specially crafted website that is designed to exploit this vulnerability and then convince a user to view the website. An attacker would have no way to force users to view the attacker-controlled content. Instead, an attacker would have to convince users to take action, typically by getting them to click a link in an email message or in an Instant Messenger message that takes users to the attacker's website, or by opening an attachment sent through email.</p> </li> <li><p>In a file sharing attack scenario, an attacker could provide a specially crafted document file that is designed to exploit this vulnerability, and then convince a user to open the document file.</p> </li> </ul> <p>The security update addresses the vulnerability by ensuring the Wininit.dll properly handles objects in memory.</p>

CWE

NVD-CWE-noinfo

Affected Products

microsoft internet explorer

References