<p>An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in the way that the Wininit.dll handles objects in memory. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could execute code with elevated permissions.</p> <p>There are multiple ways an attacker could exploit the vulnerability:</p> <ul> <li><p>In a web-based attack scenario, an attacker could host a specially crafted website that is designed to exploit this vulnerability and then convince a user to view the website. An attacker would have no way to force users to view the attacker-controlled content. Instead, an attacker would have to convince users to take action, typically by getting them to click a link in an email message or in an Instant Messenger message that takes users to the attacker's website, or by opening an attachment sent through email.</p> </li> <li><p>In a file sharing attack scenario, an attacker could provide a specially crafted document file that is designed to exploit this vulnerability, and then convince a user to open the document file.</p> </li> </ul> <p>The security update addresses the vulnerability by ensuring the Wininit.dll properly handles objects in memory.</p>
Conclusion & alert: CVE-2020-1506 is rated Moderate Risk (55.5/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 3.36%). Mandatory action: Review affected assets and schedule remediation.
Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.
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 | 2025-11-21 | 2.63% | 3.36% | +0.73% |
| 2 | 2025-11-18 | 3.42% | 2.63% | -0.79% |
| 3 | 2025-09-24 | — | 3.42% | — |
Full EPSS history (22 records total)
CVSS metrics for this CVE.
| Base score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability | Impact | Score source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6.1 | 3.1 | MEDIUM |
|
1.8 | 4.2 | [email protected] |
| 8.8 | 3.1 | HIGH |
|
2.8 | 5.9 | [email protected] |
| 6.8 | 2.0 | MEDIUM |
|
8.6 | 6.4 | [email protected] |
| Vendor | Product | Version | Raw CPE |
|---|---|---|---|
| microsoft | internet_explorer | 11 | cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:internet_explorer:11:-:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| URL | Tags |
|---|---|
| https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2020-1506 | Patch Vendor Advisory |