CVE-2019-1161 | Microsoft Defender Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when the MpSigStub.exe for Defender allows file deletion in arbitrary locations. To exploit the vulnerability, an attacker would first have to log on to the system. An attacker could then run a specially crafted command that could exploit the vulnerability and delete protected files on an affected system once MpSigStub.exe ran again. The update addresses the vulnerability and blocks the arbitrary deletion.

Published: 2019-08-14 Last update: 2026-02-20 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2019-1161 is rated Moderate Risk (47.9/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.90%). Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2019-1161

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.56% 0.90% +0.33%
2 2025-11-21 0.37% 0.56% +0.19%
3 2025-11-18 — 0.37% —

Full EPSS history (17 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2019-1161

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.1 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 5.2 [email protected]
6.6 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:C/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
 3.9 9.2 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2019-1161

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2019-1161

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
microsoft windows_defender — cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:windows_defender:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft forefront_endpoint_protection_2010 — cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:forefront_endpoint_protection_2010:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft security_essentials — cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:security_essentials:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft system_center_endpoint_protection — cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:system_center_endpoint_protection:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft system_center_endpoint_protection 2012 cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:system_center_endpoint_protection:2012:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft system_center_endpoint_protection 2012 cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:system_center_endpoint_protection:2012:r2:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2019-1161

cvelogic Threat Intelligence