CVE-2020-16874 | Visual Studio Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

<p>A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Visual Studio when it improperly handles objects in memory. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could run arbitrary code in the context of the current user. If the current user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker could take control of the affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.</p> <p>To exploit the vulnerability, an attacker would have to convince a user to open a specially crafted file with an affected version of Visual Studio.</p> <p>The update addresses the vulnerability by correcting how Visual Studio handles objects in memory.</p>

Published: 2020-09-11 Last update: 2026-02-23 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2020-16874 is rated High Risk (66.8/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 12.24%, 94th percentile). Core evidence: EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. EPSS rose +2.76% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. Mandatory action: High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize 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-2020-16874

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 2026-03-01 9.47% 12.24% +2.76%
2 2025-11-10 12.24% 9.47% -2.76%
3 2025-10-23 12.24%

Full EPSS history (55 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-16874

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:N/UI:R/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:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
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:N/UI:R/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:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
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]
9.3 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M)
Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
8.6 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-16874

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-16874

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
microsoft visual_studio 2012 cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:visual_studio:2012:update_5:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft visual_studio 2013 cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:visual_studio:2013:update_5:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft visual_studio 2015 cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:visual_studio:2015:update_3:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft visual_studio_2017 >= 15.0, <= 15.8 cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:visual_studio_2017:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft visual_studio_2019 >= 16.0, <= 16.3 cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:visual_studio_2019:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft visual_studio_2019 >= 16.5, <= 16.6 cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:visual_studio_2019:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2020-16874

cvelogic Threat Intelligence