# CVE-2019-1161: Microsoft Defender Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

> An attacker with local access can delete protected files via MpSigStub.exe, leading to privilege escalation and data modification.

- **Severity:** High 7.1 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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:** 14 Aug 2019
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-32j3-hv3j-q9qq

## What is CVE-2019-1161?

CVE-2019-1161 is a high-severity vulnerability in Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010, published on 14 Aug 2019. 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 the MpSigStub.exe for Defender allows file deletion in arbitrary locations.
To exploit the vulnerability, an attacker would first have to log on to the system. An attacker could then run a specially crafted command that could exploit the vulnerability and delete protected files on an affected system once MpSigStub.exe ran again.
The update addresses the vulnerability and blocks the arbitrary deletion.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-1161?

It affects 4 products.


Products: Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010, Microsoft Security Essentials, Microsoft System Center Endpoint Protection, Microsoft Windows Defender.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-1161?

No fix has been published for CVE-2019-1161 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2019-1161 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-1161 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010

- [CVE-2020-1163](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-1163/): Privilege escalation in Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2020-1170](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-1170/): Privilege escalation in Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2019-1255](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-1255/): Denial of service in Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2020-1461](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-1461/): Privilege escalation in Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection (high 7.1)
- [CVE-2020-1002](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-1002/): Privilege escalation in Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection (high 7.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2019-1161 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-1161 is a high-severity vulnerability in Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010, published on 14 Aug 2019. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-1161 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010. 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-2019-1161/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-1161/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-1161
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-1161
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-1161

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-1161/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.