CVE-2020-17156 Visual Studio Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

High 7.8 Published 9 Dec 2020 Updated 9 Jun 2026

An attacker can execute arbitrary code by tricking a user into opening a malicious project file in Visual Studio.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Not needed
Attackable: Local or same network only
Victim action needed: A user has to click or open something
Fix: None listed

What is CVE-2020-17156?

CVE-2020-17156 is a high-severity code injection vulnerability in Microsoft Visual Studio 2017, published on 9 Dec 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.

Official description

Visual Studio Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-17156?

It affects 2 products.

Products include Microsoft Visual Studio 2017, Microsoft Visual Studio 2019.

How do I fix CVE-2020-17156?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-17156 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

Upgrade, and never evaluate templates, expressions or code built from user input. More about Code injection.

Is CVE-2020-17156 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-17156 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Microsoft Visual Studio 2017 vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as GHSA-wmhc-c6v3-r3vr.