Vulnerability in Microsoft Visual Studio Code

CVE-2020-17023

<p>A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Visual Studio Code when a user is tricked into opening a malicious 'package.json' file. 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.</p> <p>To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would need to convince a target to clone a repository and open it in Visual Studio Code. Attacker-specified code would execute when the target opens the malicious 'package.json' file.</p> <p>The update address the vulnerability by modifying the way Visual Studio Code handles JSON files.</p>

EPSS: 0.046 (90.7th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

Affected products

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2020-17023?
CVE-2020-17023 is a high-severity vulnerability in Microsoft Visual Studio Code. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2020-10-16.
How severe is CVE-2020-17023?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.
Is CVE-2020-17023 known to be exploited?
1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.