CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2020-1571 — An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in Windows Setup in the way it handles permissions

High CVSS 7.8

An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in Windows Setup in the way it handles permissions. A locally authenticated attacker could run arbitrary code with elevated system privileges. After successfully exploiting the vulnerability, an attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. The security update addresses the vulnerability by ensuring Windows Setup properly handles permissions.

Severity
High
CVSS
7.8 (3.1)
Published
2020-08-17
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
windows/system
Weaknesses
CWE-276

Affected products

  • microsoft / windows_10 / 1803
  • microsoft / windows_10 / 1809
  • microsoft / windows_10 / 1903
  • microsoft / windows_10 / 1909
  • microsoft / windows_10 / 2004

Matched remediation archetype

Privilege escalation and unsafe privilege management

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Map service accounts, operating-system identities, roles, capabilities, impersonation, set-user transitions, and administrative helper paths.
  • Determine whether untrusted users or lower-privilege processes can reach the affected transition or modify inputs it trusts.
  • Review file, socket, registry, device, job, container, and cloud-role permissions used before and after privilege changes.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the supported fix and redesign privileged operations as a minimal, authenticated, allowlisted interface.
  • Drop privileges before processing untrusted input, verify the drop succeeds, and remove unnecessary roles, capabilities, and write permissions.
  • Validate ownership and permissions at time of use and add explicit lower-to-higher privilege boundary tests.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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