CVE-2020-16955
Microsoft Office Click-to-Run Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
<p>An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in the way that Microsoft Office Click-to-Run (C2R) AppVLP handles certain files. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could elevate privileges.</p> <p>To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would need to convince a user to open a specially crafted file.</p> <p>The security update addresses the vulnerability by correcting how Microsoft Office Click-to-Run (C2R) components handle these files.</p>
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- Required
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
Microsoft Office Click-to-Run Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
<p>An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in the way that Microsoft Office Click-to-Run (C2R) AppVLP handles certain files. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could elevate privileges.</p> <p>To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would need to convince a user to open a specially crafted file.</p> <p>The security update addresses the vulnerability by correcting how Microsoft Office Click-to-Run (C2R) components handle these files.</p>
- Record
CVE-2020-16955- CVSS 3.1
- 7.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:P/RL:O/RC:C - Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2020-8913
<p>An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in the way that Microsoft Office Click-to-Run (C2R) AppVLP handles certain files. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could elevate privileges.</p> <p>To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would need to convince a user to open a specially crafted file.</p> <p>The security update addresses the vulnerability by correcting how Microsoft Office Click-to-Run (C2R) components handle these files.</p>
- Record
EUVD-2020-8913- CVSS 3.1
- 7.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:P/RL:O/RC:C - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-hfw2-mqmp-j26q
An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in the way that Microsoft Office Click-to-Run (C2R...
An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in the way that Microsoft Office Click-to-Run (C2R) AppVLP handles certain files, aka 'Microsoft Office Click-to-Run Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability'. This CVE ID is unique from CVE-2020-16928, CVE-2020-16934.
- Record
GHSA-hfw2-mqmp-j26q- CVSS 3.1
- 7.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-20
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
<p>An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in the way that Microsoft Office Click-to-Run (C2R) AppVLP handles certain files. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could elevate privileges.</p> <p>To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would need to convince a user to open a specially crafted file.</p> <p>The security update addresses the vulnerability by correcting how Microsoft Office Click-to-Run (C2R) components handle these files.</p>
- Record
CVE-2020-16955- CVSS 3.1
- 7.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 6.8 Medium
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P - Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| facts | ||
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2020-16955 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.8) in Microsoft Office, published October 16, 2020. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 3.48%, the 89th percentile. No source names a fixed version.