CVE-2020-16856

high Microsoft
CVSS v3 Base Score
7.8
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score
12.1%
Exploitation probability in 30 days
Top 6% most likely to be exploited
Attack Characteristics
Attack Vector
Local
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>A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Visual Studio when it improperly handles objects in memory. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could run arbitrary code 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. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.</p> <p>To exploit the vulnerability, an attacker would have to convince a user to open a specially crafted file with an affected version of Visual Studio.</p> <p>The update addresses the vulnerability by correcting how Visual Studio handles objects in memory.</p>

CWE

NVD-CWE-noinfo

Affected Products

microsoft visual studiomicrosoft visual studio 2017microsoft visual studio 2019

References