---
id: CVE-2020-1078
title: >-
  An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in Windows Installer because of
  the way Windows Installer handles certain filesystem operations.

  To exploit the vulnerability, an attacker would require unprivileged execution
  on the victim …
summary: >-
  An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in Windows Installer because of
  the way Windows Installer handles certain filesystem operations.

  To exploit the vulnerability, an attacker would require unprivileged execution
  on the victim …
severity: high
cvss: 7.8
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'
vendor: microsoft
product: windows_10
affected:
  - windows_10
  - windows_10 = 1607
  - windows_10 = 1709
  - windows_10 = 1803
  - windows_10 = 1809
  - windows_10 = 1903
  - windows_10 = 1909
  - windows_7
  - windows_8.1
  - windows_rt_8.1
  - windows_server_2008
  - windows_server_2008 = r2
  - windows_server_2012
  - windows_server_2012 = r2
  - windows_server_2016
  - windows_server_2016 = 1803
  - windows_server_2016 = 1903
  - windows_server_2016 = 1909
  - windows_server_2019
published: '2020-05-21'
updated: '2026-08-19'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-1078'
references:
  - url: 'https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2020-1078'
    label: secure@microsoft.com
  - url: >-
      https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2020-1078
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
tags:
  - nvd
epss: 0.00833
epssPercentile: 0.55856
ingestedAt: '2026-08-19T17:42:37.258Z'
---

## Overview

An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in Windows Installer because of the way Windows Installer handles certain filesystem operations.
To exploit the vulnerability, an attacker would require unprivileged execution on the victim system. After successfully exploiting the vulnerability, an attacker could run arbitrary code with elevated privileges. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights.
The security update addresses the vulnerability by correcting the way Windows Installer handles certain filesystem operations.

## Affected

- `windows_10`
- `windows_10 = 1607`
- `windows_10 = 1709`
- `windows_10 = 1803`
- `windows_10 = 1809`
- `windows_10 = 1903`
- `windows_10 = 1909`
- `windows_7`
- `windows_8.1`
- `windows_rt_8.1`
- `windows_server_2008`
- `windows_server_2008 = r2`
- `windows_server_2012`
- `windows_server_2012 = r2`
- `windows_server_2016`
- `windows_server_2016 = 1803`
- `windows_server_2016 = 1903`
- `windows_server_2016 = 1909`
- `windows_server_2019`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.