CVE-2020-16996 Kerberos Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability
Medium 6.5
Published
Updated
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-16996 and fix it if it is affected.
What it is: CVE-2020-16996 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Microsoft Windows Server 2012, published on 9 Dec 2020. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-16996 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-2020-16996/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-16996/index.md)
An attacker can bypass Kerberos security features in Windows Server, potentially undermining authentication integrity.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2020-16996?
CVE-2020-16996 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Microsoft Windows Server 2012, published on 9 Dec 2020. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
Kerberos Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability
Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-16996?
It affects 3 products.
Products include Microsoft Windows Server 2012, Microsoft Windows Server 2016, Microsoft Windows Server 2019.
How do I fix CVE-2020-16996?
No fix has been published for CVE-2020-16996 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Is CVE-2020-16996 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-16996 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows Server 2012
- CVE-2025-59287 Microsoft Windows Server Update Service (WSUS) Deserialization of Untrusted Data
- CVE-2026-69595 Windows Services for NFS ONCRPC XDR Driver Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
- CVE-2026-78445 Windows Services for NFS ONCRPC XDR Driver Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
- CVE-2026-41089 Windows Netlogon Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
- CVE-2024-43639 Windows KDC Proxy Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
Sources
Also known as GHSA-3cr5-frrf-7285.