CVEs / CVE-2020-1472
CVE-2020-1472: Microsoft Netlogon Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
- Known exploited in the CISA KEV catalog since 3 Nov 2021
- high 9.3 CVSS 2.0 (NVD)
- EPSS 99.3% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 99% of CVEs (30 Oct 2026)
- Last changed at its sources
Are you affected? Check your servers with Stackurity: it lists the software on each server and the vulnerabilities to fix first.
Check your servers with Stackurity Already using Stackurity? Search for CVE-2020-1472
Summary
Microsoft's Netlogon Remote Protocol (MS-NRPC) contains a privilege escalation vulnerability when an attacker establishes a vulnerable Netlogon secure channel connection to a domain controller. An attacker who successfully exploits the vulnerability could run a specially crafted application on a device on the network. The vulnerability is also known under the moniker of Zerologon.
Description
An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when an attacker establishes a vulnerable Netlogon secure channel connection to a domain controller, using the Netlogon Remote Protocol (MS-NRPC). An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could run a specially crafted application on a device on the network. To exploit the vulnerability, an unauthenticated attacker would be required to use MS-NRPC to connect to a domain controller to obtain domain administrator access. Microsoft is addressing the vulnerability in a phased two-part rollout. These updates address the vulnerability by modifying how Netlogon handles the usage of Netlogon secure channels. For guidelines on how to manage the changes required for this vulnerability and more information on the phased rollout, see How to manage the changes in Netlogon secure channel connections associated with CVE-2020-1472 (updated September 28, 2020). When the second phase of Windows updates become available in Q1 2021, customers will be notified via a revision to this security vulnerability. If you wish to be notified when these updates are released, we recommend that you register for the security notifications mailer to be alerted of content changes to this advisory. See Microsoft Technical Security Notifications.
Affected and fixed versions
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Windows Server version 2004 | from 10.0.0, before publication | publication |
| Microsoft Windows Server 2019 | from 10.0.0, before publication | publication |
| Microsoft Windows Server 2019 (Server Core installation) | from 10.0.0, before publication | publication |
| Microsoft Windows Server, version 1909 (Server Core installation) | from 10.0.0, before publication | publication |
| Microsoft Windows Server, version 1903 (Server Core installation) | from 10.0.0, before publication | publication |
| Microsoft Windows Server 2016 | from 10.0.0, before publication | publication |
| Microsoft Windows Server 2016 (Server Core installation) | from 10.0.0, before publication | publication |
| Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 | from 6.1.0, before publication | publication |
| Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (Server Core installation) | from 6.0.0, before publication | publication |
| Microsoft Windows Server 2012 | from 6.2.0, before publication | publication |
| Microsoft Windows Server 2012 (Server Core installation) | from 6.2.0, before publication | publication |
| Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 | from 6.3.0, before publication | publication |
| Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 (Server Core installation) | from 6.3.0, before publication | publication |
| Microsoft Windows Server version 20H2 | from 10.0.0, before publication | publication |
Exploitation
| In CISA KEV since | 3 Nov 2021 |
|---|---|
| Due date for US federal agencies | 3 May 2022 |
| Used in ransomware campaigns | Known |
| Required action | Apply updates per vendor instructions. |
Severity
| CVSS 2.0 | 9.3 highAV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:CScored by NVD |
|---|
References
- CVE-2020-1472 on NVD
- CVE-2020-1472 in the CISA KEV catalog
- https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/directives/ed-20-04-mitigate-netlogon-elevation-privilege-vulnerability-august-2020-patch-tuesday (cited by CISA)
- CVE-2020-1472 on OSV
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-09/msg00080.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-09/msg00086.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/159190/Zerologon-Proof-Of-Concept.html Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/160127/Zerologon-Netlogon-Privilege-Escalation.html Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2020/09/17/2 Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/11/msg00041.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/H4OTFBL6YDVFH2TBJFJIE4FMHPJEEJK3/ Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/ST6X3A2XXYMGD4INR26DQ4FP4QSM753B/ Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/TAPQQZZAT4TG3XVRTAFV2Y3S7OAHFBUP/ Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2020-1472 Patch, Vendor Advisory
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202012-24 Third Party Advisory
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/4510-1/ Third Party Advisory
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/4510-2/ Third Party Advisory
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/4559-1/ Third Party Advisory
- https://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/490028 Third Party Advisory, US Government Resource
- https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuApr2021.html Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://www.synology.com/security/advisory/Synology_SA_20_21 Third Party Advisory
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2020-1472 US Government Resource
Sources
Exploitation status from the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. EPSS scores from FIRST. Descriptions, severity and references from the National Vulnerability Database. Open-source package versions from OSV (CC-BY 4.0). Text is shown as each source states it; Stackurity does not edit it. Check the vendor's advisory before acting.
This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.