CVE-2020-16874

Visual Studio Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

HIGH
7.8
CVSS Score
Published: September 11, 2020 at 05:08 PM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 02:58 AM UTC
6 products affected across 1 vendorVisual StudioVisual Studio 2019Visual Studio 2017

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Severity
HIGH7.8
Exploit prediction
EPSS 4%

Description

<p>A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Visual Studio when it improperly handles objects in memory. 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. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.</p> <p>To exploit the vulnerability, an attacker would have to convince a user to open a specially crafted file with an affected version of Visual Studio.</p> <p>The update addresses the vulnerability by correcting how Visual Studio handles objects in memory.</p>

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

20122012 update_520132013 update_520152015 update_3
15.0 ≤ v ≤ 15.815.9.0 ≤ v < publication15.9.0
Affected range stops below publication, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
16.0 ≤ v ≤ 16.316.0 ≤ v < publication16.0.0 ≤ v < publication16.5 ≤ v ≤ 16.616.016.0.0
Affected range stops below publication, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
11.0.0 ≤ v < publication11.0.0
Affected range stops below publication, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
12.0.0 ≤ v < publication12.0.0
Affected range stops below publication, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
14.0.0 ≤ v < publication14.0.0
Affected range stops below publication, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

CVSS

7.8HIGHmicrosoft
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
NVD-CWE-noinfo

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