CVE-2020-1076 Windows Denial of Service Vulnerability

Medium 5.5 Published 21 May 2020 Updated 19 Aug 2026

A local attacker can cause a Windows system to stop responding by running a specially crafted application due to improper memory object handling.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Any signed-in user
Attackable: Local or same network only
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: None listed

What is CVE-2020-1076?

CVE-2020-1076 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 10, published on 21 May 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

A denial of service vulnerability exists when Windows improperly handles objects in memory. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could cause a target system to stop responding. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would have to log on to an affected system and run a specially crafted application. The vulnerability would not allow an attacker to execute code or to elevate user rights directly, but it could be used to cause a target system to stop responding. The update addresses the vulnerability by correcting how Windows handles objects in memory.

Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-1076?

It affects 8 products.

Products include Microsoft Windows 10, Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows 8.1, Microsoft Windows Rt 8.1, Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Microsoft Windows Server 2012 and 2 more.

How do I fix CVE-2020-1076?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-1076 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.

Is CVE-2020-1076 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-1076 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Microsoft Windows 10 vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as GHSA-h97w-669f-c7g8.