# CVE-2018-0952: Privilege escalation in Microsoft Visual Studio

> Attackers can exploit Diagnostics Hub Standard Collector to create files in arbitrary locations, leading to privilege escalation on Windows systems.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 15 Aug 2018
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-g92w-m5cw-jw9w

## What is CVE-2018-0952?

CVE-2018-0952 is a high-severity vulnerability in Microsoft Visual Studio 2017, published on 15 Aug 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An Elevation of Privilege vulnerability exists when Diagnostics Hub Standard Collector allows file creation in arbitrary locations, aka "Diagnostic Hub Standard Collector Elevation Of Privilege Vulnerability." This affects Windows Server 2016, Windows 10, Microsoft Visual Studio, Windows 10 Servers.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-0952?

It affects 4 products.


Products: Microsoft Visual Studio 2015, Microsoft Visual Studio 2017, Microsoft Windows 10, Microsoft Windows Server 2016.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-0952?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-0952 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2018-0952 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2018-0952 exists.

Public exploit code:

- PoC for Privilege Escalation in Windows 10 Diagnostics Hub Standard Collector Service (github_poc): https://github.com/atredispartners/CVE-2018-0952-SystemCollector
- Microsoft Windows 10 - Diagnostics Hub Standard Collector Service Privilege Escalation (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in Microsoft Visual Studio 2017

- [CVE-2020-0793](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-0793/): Privilege escalation in Microsoft Visual Studio (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2020-0810](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-0810/): Privilege escalation in Microsoft Visual Studio (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2020-0900](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-0900/): Privilege escalation in Microsoft Visual Studio (medium 5.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-0952 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-0952 is a high-severity vulnerability in Microsoft Visual Studio 2017, published on 15 Aug 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2018-0952 exists.

Affected product: Microsoft Visual Studio 2017. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0952/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0952/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-0952
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-0952
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-0952

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0952/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.