A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Visual Studio when it improperly handles objects in memory. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could run arbitrary code in the context of the current user. If the current user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker could take control of the affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.
To exploit the vulnerability, an attacker would have to convince a user to open a specially crafted file with an affected version of Visual Studio.
The update addresses the vulnerability by correcting how Visual Studio handles objects in memory.
## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-16874? It affects 3 products. Products: Microsoft Visual Studio, Microsoft Visual Studio 2017, Microsoft Visual Studio 2019. ## How do I fix CVE-2020-16874? No fix has been published for CVE-2020-16874 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available. ## Is CVE-2020-16874 being exploited? There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-16874 in the wild and no public exploit code. ## Other vulnerabilities in Microsoft Visual Studio - [CVE-2025-49739](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-49739/): Visual Studio Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability (high 8.8) - [CVE-2022-35777](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-35777/): Visual Studio Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (high 8.8) - [CVE-2022-35825](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-35825/): Visual Studio Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (high 8.8) - [CVE-2022-35826](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-35826/): Visual Studio Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (high 8.8) - [CVE-2022-35827](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-35827/): Visual Studio Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (high 8.8) ## Fix prompt for AI coding agents ```text Check this codebase for CVE-2020-16874 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2020-16874 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Microsoft Visual Studio, published on 11 Sep 2020. 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: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-16874 in the wild and no public exploit code. Affected product: Microsoft Visual Studio. 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-2020-16874/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-16874/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-16874 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-16874 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-16874 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-16874/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.