CVE-2020-0683

Microsoft Windows Installer Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

Exploited in attacks High 7.8 Attack chance: 7.6%

What it is

An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in the Windows Installer when MSI packages process symbolic links, aka 'Windows Installer Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability'. This CVE ID is unique from CVE-2020-0686.

CISA: Microsoft Windows Installer contains a privilege escalation vulnerability when MSI packages process symbolic links, which allows attackers to bypass access restrictions to add or remove files.

What to do

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Deadline for US federal agencies: May 3, 2022

Added to the CISA list: November 3, 2021
Published: February 11, 2020
Severity: High 7.8 CVSS 3.1
Chance of attacks in the next 30 days (EPSS): 7.6% in the top 5.5% of all known vulnerabilities
More details: NVD · CVE.org · CISA

All references (1)

https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2020-0683

More exploited flaws from Microsoft

Added	Vulnerability	Product	Severity	Attack chance
Oct 13, 2026	Command InjectionCVE-2026-96951	Windows	High 8.8	9.8%
Sep 8, 2026	Link FollowingCVE-2026-81963	Windows	High 7.8	0.4%
Sep 8, 2026	Heap-Based Buffer OverflowCVE-2026-85880	Windows	High 7.8	0.4%
May 20, 2026	Buffer OverflowCVE-2008-4250	Windows	Critical 9.8	99%
Apr 28, 2026	Protection Mechanism FailureCVE-2026-32202	Windows	Medium 4.3	71%
Apr 13, 2026	Out-of-Bounds ReadCVE-2023-36424	Windows	High 7.8	12%
Apr 13, 2026	Link FollowingCVE-2025-60710used by ransomware	Windows	High 7.8	4.6%
Feb 17, 2026	Microsoft Windows Video ActiveX Control Remote Code ExecutionCVE-2008-0015	Windows	High 8.8	77%

All of them →

Sources: Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (CISA, public domain), CVE records (cve.org) and EPSS (FIRST). The chance of attacks is the EPSS estimate that someone will try to exploit the flaw in the next 30 days.