CVE-2020-3988

VMware Workstation (15.x) and Horizon Client for Windows (5.x before 5.4.4) contain an out-of-bounds read vulnerability in Cortado ThinPrint component (JPEG2000 parser). A malicious actor with normal access to a virtual machine may be able to exploit these issues to create a partial denial-of-service condition or to leak memory from TPView process running on the system where Workstation or Horizon Client for Windows is installed.

Published: 2020-09-16 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2020-3988 is rated Low Risk (28.5/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.05%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

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-2020-3988

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 2025-03-30 0.09% 0.05% -0.05%
2 2025-03-29 0.04% 0.09% +0.05%
3 2023-03-07 — 0.04% —

Full EPSS history (7 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-3988

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.1 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:L 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:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 1.8 4.2 [email protected]
3.6 2.0 LOW
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/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:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 3.9 4.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-3988

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-3988

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
vmware horizon_client >= 5.0.0, < 5.4.4 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:horizon_client:*:*:*:*:*:windows:*:*
vmware workstation_player >= 15.0.0, < 16.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:workstation_player:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
vmware workstation_pro >= 15.0.0, < 16.0.0 cpe:2.3:a:vmware:workstation_pro:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2020-3988

cvelogic Threat Intelligence