CVE-2020-0787
HIGHCISA KEVEPSS 99th pctlDescription
An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when the Windows Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) improperly handles symbolic links, aka 'Windows Background Intelligent Transfer Service Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability'.
How to fix
Actively exploited, no published fix found yet
CISA required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Federal remediation due: 2022-07-28
Known ransomware campaign use
Mitigation guidance may be in the linked vendor advisories in the References section below.
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CVSS v3 Vector
Exploitability
Impact
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Exploit Intelligence
Very high risk: more likely to be exploited than 99% of all known CVEs.
Microsoft Windows Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) Improper Privilege Management Vulnerability
Microsoft Windows BITS is vulnerable to to a privilege elevation vulnerability if it improperly handles symbolic links. An actor can exploit this vulnerability to execute arbitrary code with system-level privileges.
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Remediation due: 2022-07-28
Associated with ransomware campaigns
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-59 (Link Following) vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2022-30333 | High | 7.5 | 99% | KEV + Ransom | Fix |
| CVE-2021-21300 | High | 8.0 | 89% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2021-32610 | High | 7.1 | 73% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2020-36193 | High | 7.5 | 71% | KEV | Fix |
| CVE-2023-40028 | Medium | 4.9 | 58% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2023-36874 | High | 7.8 | 43% | KEV | Fix |
Common questions
How do I fix CVE-2020-0787?
No published fix for CVE-2020-0787 has been found yet. It is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list; federal agencies must remediate by 2022-07-28. Apply the vendor's mitigations per CISA's guidance.
Is CVE-2020-0787 being actively exploited?
Yes. CVE-2020-0787 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which means exploitation has been observed in the wild. CISA has also linked it to known ransomware campaigns. US federal agencies were required to remediate it by 2022-07-28. Treat it as a priority whatever its CVSS score says.
How severe is CVE-2020-0787?
CVE-2020-0787 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.8, rated high. CVSS rates the technical impact if the vulnerability is exploited, not how likely that is, so weigh it alongside the exploit-prediction score when you decide what to patch first.
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This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2025-10-29.