Denial of service in Microsoft Visual Studio Extension Installer Service

Published: 2020-03-10

Risk	Low
Patch available	YES
Number of vulnerabilities	1
CVE-ID	CVE-2020-0789
CWE-ID	CWE-65
Exploitation vector	Local
Public exploit	N/A
Vulnerable software Subscribe	Visual Studio Universal components / Libraries / Software for developers
Vendor	Microsoft

Security Bulletin

This security bulletin contains one low risk vulnerability.

1) Windows Hard Link

EUVDB-ID: #VU25963

Risk: Low

CVSSv3.1: 6.2 [CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C]

CVE-ID: CVE-2020-0789

CWE-ID: CWE-65 - Windows hard link

Exploit availability: No

Description

The vulnerability allows a local user to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on the target system.

The vulnerability exists due to the Visual Studio Extension Installer Service improperly handles hard links. A local authenticated user can run a specially crafted application and cause a target system to stop responding.

This vulnerability would allow an attacker to overwrite system files.

Mitigation

Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Visual Studio: 16.0.0 16.0.28729.10 - 16.3.0 16.3.29318.209

External links

http://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2020-0789

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

No. This vulnerability can be exploited locally. The attacker should have authentication credentials and successfully authenticate on the system.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability.