# CVE-2020-1002: Privilege escalation in Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection

> An attacker with local access can exploit a flaw in MpSigStub.exe to delete arbitrary files, leading to privilege escalation.

- **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:** 15 Apr 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-xvh7-j354-hww5

## What is CVE-2020-1002?

CVE-2020-1002 is a high-severity vulnerability in Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection, published on 15 Apr 2020. 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, aka 'Microsoft Defender Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability'.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-1002?

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-2020-1002?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-1002 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-1002 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-1002 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection

- [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-2019-1161](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-1161/): Microsoft Defender Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability (high 7.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-1002 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-1002 is a high-severity vulnerability in Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection, published on 15 Apr 2020. 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-2020-1002 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection. 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-2020-1002/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-1002/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-1002
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-1002
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-1002

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-1002/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.