CVE-2024-20656 Visual Studio Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

High 7.8 Published 9 Jan 2024 Updated 3 May 2025

An attacker can exploit a link following vulnerability in Visual Studio to elevate privileges on the local system.

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-2024-20656?

CVE-2024-20656 is a high-severity vulnerability in Microsoft Visual Studio, published on 9 Jan 2024. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

Visual Studio Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Weakness: CWE-59

Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-20656?

It affects 4 products.

Products include Microsoft Visual Studio, Microsoft Visual Studio 2017, Microsoft Visual Studio 2019, Microsoft Visual Studio 2022.

How do I fix CVE-2024-20656?

No fix has been published for CVE-2024-20656 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

Is CVE-2024-20656 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2024-20656 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code: 1 proofs of concept on GitHub.

All Microsoft Visual Studio vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as GHSA-7p5c-g6m3-v67r.