CVE-2020-0638

Exp

An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in the way the Update Notification Manager handles files.To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would first have to gain execution on the victim system, aka 'Update Notification Manager Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability'.

Published: 2020-01-14 Last update: 2025-10-29 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2020-0638 is rated Critical Active Threat (84.3/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.48%). Core evidence: CISA KEV confirms active exploitation (added 2022-05-23) affecting Microsoft / Update Notification Manager. a weakness (CWE-59) Unauthenticated remote administrative access may be possible. Mandatory action: The CISA remediation deadline has passed—treat as an emergency patch priority.

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

CISA KEV Record for CVE-2020-0638

Name: Microsoft Update Notification Manager Privilege Escalation Vulnerability · CISA KEV detail

Exploit added: 2022-05-23

Action due: 2022-06-13

Required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2020-0638

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 2026-03-30 1.65% 1.48% -0.18%
2 2026-02-24 1.48% 1.65% +0.18%
3 2025-11-21 1.48%

Full EPSS history (26 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-0638

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big 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 5.9 [email protected]
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big 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 5.9 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
4.6 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P 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:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
3.9 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-0638

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-0638

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
microsoft windows_10_1709 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_1709:-:*:*:*:*:*:arm64:*
microsoft windows_10_1709 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_1709:-:*:*:*:*:*:x64:*
microsoft windows_10_1803 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_1803:-:*:*:*:*:*:arm64:*
microsoft windows_10_1803 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_1803:-:*:*:*:*:*:x64:*
microsoft windows_10_1809 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_1809:-:*:*:*:*:*:arm64:*
microsoft windows_10_1809 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_1809:-:*:*:*:*:*:x64:*
microsoft windows_10_1809 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_1809:-:*:*:*:*:*:x86:*
microsoft windows_10_1903 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_1903:-:*:*:*:*:*:arm64:*
microsoft windows_10_1903 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_1903:-:*:*:*:*:*:x64:*
microsoft windows_10_1903 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_1903:-:*:*:*:*:*:x86:*
microsoft windows_10_1909 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_1909:-:*:*:*:*:*:arm64:*
microsoft windows_10_1909 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_1909:-:*:*:*:*:*:x64:*
microsoft windows_10_1909 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_1909:-:*:*:*:*:*:x86:*
microsoft windows_server_1803 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_1803:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_server_1903 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_1903:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_server_1909 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_1909:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_server_2019 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2019:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2020-0638

cvelogic Threat Intelligence