{"id":"CVE-2020-16939","aliases":["EUVD-2020-8897","GHSA-fh2p-293q-jmxp"],"status":"published","title":"Group Policy Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability","description":"\u003cp\u003eAn elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when Group Policy improperly checks access. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could run processes in an elevated context.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo exploit the vulnerability, an attacker would first have to log on to the system, and then run a specially crafted application to take control over the affected system.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe security update addresses the vulnerability by correcting how Group Policy checks access.\u003c/p\u003e","severity":{"version":"3.1","score":7.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:P/RL:O/RC:C","level":"high","assessor":"cna","from":"cve"},"epss":{"day":"2026-11-10","score":0.02417,"percentile":0.84286,"model":"v2026.06.15"},"facts":{"in_kev":false,"known_exploited":false,"public_exploit":true,"fix_available":false},"cwes":["CWE-269","CWE-59"],"published":"2020-10-16T22:17:57Z","modified":"2026-06-17T02:58:18Z","exploits":[{"source":"pocgithub","id":"rogue-kdc/CVE-2020-16939","title":"rogue-kdc/CVE-2020-16939","date":"2020-10-14","url":"https://github.com/rogue-kdc/CVE-2020-16939"}],"products":[{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows 10 version 1507"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows 10 version 1607"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows 10 version 1709"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows 10 version 1709 for 32-bit systems"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows 10 version 1803"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows 10 version 1809"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows 10 version 1903 for 32-bit systems"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows 10 version 1903 for arm64-based systems"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows 10 version 1903 for x64-based systems"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows 10 version 1909"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows 10 version 2004"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows 7"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows 7 service pack 1"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows 8.1"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows server 2008  service pack 2"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows server 2008 r2 service pack 1"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows server 2008 r2 service pack 1 (server core installation)"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows server 2008 service pack 2"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows server 2008 service pack 2 (server core installation)"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows server 2012"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows server 2012 (server core installation)"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows server 2012 r2"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows server 2012 r2 (server core installation)"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows server 2016"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows server 2016 (server core installation)"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows server 2019"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows server 2019 (server core installation)"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows server version 2004"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows server, version 1903 (server core installation)"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows server, version 1909 (server core installation)"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows_10"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows_7"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows_8.1"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows_rt_8.1"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows_server_2008"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows_server_2012"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows_server_2016"},{"vendor":"microsoft","product":"windows_server_2019"}],"references":[{"url":"https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2020-16939","tags":["x_refsource_MISC","x_transferred","Patch","Vendor Advisory"]},{"url":"https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-20-1254/","tags":["x_refsource_MISC","x_transferred","Third Party Advisory"]},{"url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-16939"},{"url":"https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-20-1254"},{"url":"https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-fh2p-293q-jmxp"}],"sources":{"cve":[{"id":"CVE-2020-16939","title":"Group Policy Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability","description":"\u003cp\u003eAn elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when Group Policy improperly checks access. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could run processes in an elevated context.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo exploit the vulnerability, an attacker would first have to log on to the system, and then run a specially crafted application to take control over the affected system.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe security update addresses the vulnerability by correcting how Group Policy checks access.\u003c/p\u003e","status":"published","published":"2020-10-16T22:17:57Z","modified":"2024-08-04T13:45:34.658Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":7.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:P/RL:O/RC:C","level":"high","assessor":"cna"}],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:35:59.116379Z"}],"euvd":[{"id":"EUVD-2020-8897","description":"\u003cp\u003eAn elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when Group Policy improperly checks access. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could run processes in an elevated context.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo exploit the vulnerability, an attacker would first have to log on to the system, and then run a specially crafted application to take control over the affected system.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe security update addresses the vulnerability by correcting how Group Policy checks access.\u003c/p\u003e","status":"published","published":"2020-10-16T22:17:57Z","modified":"2024-08-04T13:45:34Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":7.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:P/RL:O/RC:C","level":"high"}],"updated_at":"2026-11-03T03:07:28.222143Z"}],"ghsa":[{"id":"GHSA-fh2p-293q-jmxp","title":"An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when Group Policy improperly checks access, aka ...","description":"An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when Group Policy improperly checks access, aka 'Group Policy Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability'.","status":"published","published":"2022-05-24T17:30:59Z","modified":"2026-02-23T18:32:55Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":7.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high"}],"cwes":["CWE-59","CWE-269"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T15:06:20.459119Z"}],"nvd":[{"id":"CVE-2020-16939","description":"\u003cp\u003eAn elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when Group Policy improperly checks access. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could run processes in an elevated context.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTo exploit the vulnerability, an attacker would first have to log on to the system, and then run a specially crafted application to take control over the affected system.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe security update addresses the vulnerability by correcting how Group Policy checks access.\u003c/p\u003e","status":"published","published":"2020-10-16T23:15:15.68Z","modified":"2026-06-17T02:58:18.947Z","cvss":[{"version":"3.1","score":7.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high","assessor":"secondary"},{"version":"3.1","score":7.8,"vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","level":"high","assessor":"secondary"},{"version":"2.0","score":4.6,"vector":"AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P","level":"medium","assessor":"primary"}],"cwes":["CWE-59"],"updated_at":"2026-11-02T14:06:19.351389Z"}]}}