Advisory Details

April 15th, 2020

Microsoft Windows Palette Object Use-After-Free Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

ZDI-20-459
ZDI-CAN-9934

CVE ID CVE-2020-0956
CVSS SCORE 8.8, AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
AFFECTED VENDORS Microsoft
AFFECTED PRODUCTS Windows
VULNERABILITY DETAILS

This vulnerability allows local attackers to escalate privileges on affected installations of Microsoft Windows. An attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability.

The specific flaw exists within the handling of palette objects within win32k.sys. The issue results from the lack of validating the existence of an object prior to performing operations on the object. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to escalate privileges and execute code in the context of SYSTEM.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS Microsoft has issued an update to correct this vulnerability. More details can be found at:
https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2020-0956
DISCLOSURE TIMELINE
  • 2020-01-03 - Vulnerability reported to vendor
  • 2020-04-15 - Coordinated public release of advisory
CREDIT Marcin Wiazowski
BACK TO ADVISORIES