An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when the Windows iSCSI Target Service improperly handles file operations. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain elevated privileges.
To exploit the vulnerability, an attacker would first need code execution on a victim system. An attacker could then run a specially crafted application.
The security update addresses the vulnerability by ensuring the Windows iSCSI Target Service properly handles file operations.
## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-16980? It affects 3 products. Products: Microsoft Windows Server 2012, Microsoft Windows Server 2016, Microsoft Windows Server 2019. ## How do I fix CVE-2020-16980? No fix has been published for CVE-2020-16980 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available. ## Is CVE-2020-16980 being exploited? There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-16980 in the wild and no public exploit code. ## Other vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows Server 2012 - [CVE-2025-59287](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-59287/): Microsoft Windows Server Update Service (WSUS) Deserialization of Untrusted Data (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2026-69595](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-69595/): Windows Services for NFS ONCRPC XDR Driver Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (critical 9.8) - [CVE-2026-78445](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-78445/): Windows Services for NFS ONCRPC XDR Driver Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (critical 9.8) - [CVE-2026-41089](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-41089/): Windows Netlogon Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (critical 9.8) - [CVE-2024-43639](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-43639/): Windows KDC Proxy Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (critical 9.8) ## Fix prompt for AI coding agents ```text Check this codebase for CVE-2020-16980 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2020-16980 is a high-severity vulnerability in Microsoft Windows Server 2012, published on 16 Oct 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-2020-16980 in the wild and no public exploit code. Affected product: Microsoft Windows Server 2012. 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-2020-16980/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-16980/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-16980 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-16980 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-16980 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-16980/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.