# CVE-2019-0948: Windows Event Viewer Information Disclosure Vulnerability

> An attacker can read arbitrary files by tricking a user into importing a malicious XML file into Windows Event Viewer.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N/E:P/RL:O/RC:C`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 12 Jun 2019
- **Updated:** 20 May 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-r88q-8vv9-3qmg

## What is CVE-2019-0948?

CVE-2019-0948 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 10, published on 12 Jun 2019. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

An information disclosure vulnerability exists in the Windows Event Viewer (eventvwr.msc) when it improperly parses XML input containing a reference to an external entity. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could read arbitrary files via an XML external entity (XXE) declaration.
To exploit the vulnerability, an attacker could create a file containing specially crafted XML content and convince an authenticated user to import the file.
The update addresses the vulnerability by modifying the way that the Event Viewer parses XML input.

Weakness: CWE-611 (Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-0948?

It affects 8 products.


Products: Microsoft Windows 10, Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows 8.1, Microsoft Windows Rt 8.1, Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Microsoft Windows Server 2012, Microsoft Windows Server 2016, Microsoft Windows Server 2019.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-0948?

No fix has been published for CVE-2019-0948 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2019-0948 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2019-0948 exists.

Public exploit code:

- Microsoft Event Viewer 1.0 - XML External Entity Injection (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows 10

- [CVE-2015-2426](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-2426/): Microsoft Windows Adobe Type Manager Library Remote Code Execution (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2015-1769](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-1769/): Microsoft Windows Mount Manager Privilege Escalation (medium 6.6, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2020-1467](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-1467/): Windows Hard Link Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2021-26424](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-26424/): Windows TCP/IP Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (critical 9.9)
- [CVE-2021-28476](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-28476/): Windows Hyper-V Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (critical 9.9)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2019-0948 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-0948 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 10, published on 12 Jun 2019. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2019-0948 exists.

Affected product: Microsoft Windows 10. 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-2019-0948/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-0948/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-0948
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-0948
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-0948

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-0948/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.