Advisory Details

This vulnerability allows local attackers to create a denial-of-service condition on affected installations of Microsoft Visual Studio. 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 Visual Studio installer. By creating a symbolic link, an attacker can abuse the installer to overwrite a file. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to create a denial-of-service condition on the system.

This vulnerability is being disclosed publicly without a patch in accordance with the ZDI 120 day deadline.

07/09/21 – ZDI reported the vulnerability to the vendor
07/09/21 – The vendor acknowledged the report
08/05/21 – The vendor confirmed the behavior reported
09/24/21 – The vendor requested an extension until 01/11/22
09/28/21 – ZDI approved on an extension until 01/11/22
01/12/22 – ZDI requested an update
02/18/22 – ZDI requested an update
02/18/22 – The vendor clarified that the issues have been fixed on 01/11/22
02/22/22 –  ZDI communicated that the issues were still vulnerable on the latest version and notified the vendor of the intention to publish the cases as 0-day advisories on 02/28/22

-- Mitigation:
Given the nature of the vulnerability the only salient mitigation strategy is to restrict interaction with the application.

• 2021-07-09 - Vulnerability reported to vendor
• 2022-03-01 - Coordinated public release of advisory