Vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer
CVE-2020-1012
<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>
EPSS: 0.037 (89.1th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 8.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
Affected products
- Microsoft Internet_explorer — versions 11
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 11 — versions 1.0.0
- Microsoft Windows_10 — versions 1607, 1709, 1803
- Microsoft Windows_7
- Microsoft Windows_8.1
- Microsoft Windows_rt_8.1
- Microsoft Windows_server_2008 — versions r2
- Microsoft Windows_server_2012 — versions r2
- Microsoft Windows_server_2016
- Microsoft Windows_server_2019
Public proof-of-concept exploits
References
- secure@microsoft.com (Patch, x_refsource_MISC, Vendor Advisory)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2020-1012?
- CVE-2020-1012 is a high-severity vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer. CVSS score: 8.8/10. Published 2020-09-11.
- How severe is CVE-2020-1012?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.8 out of 10.
- Is CVE-2020-1012 known to be exploited?
- 1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.