How severe is CVE-2020-0986?

CVE-2020-0986 has a CVSS score of 7.8/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2020-0986?

Affected package information for CVE-2020-0986 is not yet fully mapped. Check the official advisory links for details.

How do I fix CVE-2020-0986?

No fixed version has been published for CVE-2020-0986 yet. Monitor the advisory for updates, apply mitigations recommended by the vendor, and use O3 Security to track when a fix becomes available in your stack.

Is CVE-2020-0986 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 2 known exploit references for CVE-2020-0986, including 2 in-the-wild exploitations observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2020-0986?

CVE-2020-0986 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 16.5%, placing it in the 95th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score warrants monitoring and prompt remediation.

Is CVE-2020-0986 in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog?

Yes. CVE-2020-0986 (Microsoft Windows Kernel Privilege Escalation Vulnerability) was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 2021-11-03. CISA required all US federal civilian agencies to remediate this vulnerability by 2022-05-03. The required action was: Apply updates per vendor instructions. Being listed in the KEV catalog is the strongest possible confirmation of active exploitation — treat this as a critical priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2020-0986?

CVE-2020-0986 is classified as Out-of-bounds Write (CWE-787). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation.

Which products and versions are affected by CVE-2020-0986?

CVE-2020-0986 affects microsoft windows 8.1; microsoft windows 10 1507; microsoft windows 10 1607; microsoft windows 10 1709, and 13 more product(s). Check the affected-products list on this page against your deployed version to confirm exposure.

When was CVE-2020-0986 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2020-0986 was published on June 9, 2020 and was last updated on October 29, 2025. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

CISA KEV·Added 2021-11-03 — agencies required to remediate by 2022-05-03

CVE-2020-0986

HIGH

An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when the Windows kernel fails to properly handle objects in memory, aka 'Windows Kernel Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability'. This CVE…

Published

Jun 9, 2020

Updated

Oct 29, 2025

Affected

0 pkgs

Patched

None yet

Exploits

2 known

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

16.5%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Moderate Risk95th percentile0.00%

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.

Description

An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when the Windows kernel fails to properly handle objects in memory, aka 'Windows Kernel Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability'. This CVE ID is unique from CVE-2020-1237, CVE-2020-1246, CVE-2020-1262, CVE-2020-1264, CVE-2020-1266, CVE-2020-1269, CVE-2020-1273, CVE-2020-1274, CVE-2020-1275, CVE-2020-1276, CVE-2020-1307, CVE-2020-1316.

Affected Products

17 products · 32 configurations

windows 8.1microsoft

all

windows 10 1507microsoft

all

windows 10 1607microsoft

all

windows 10 1709microsoft

all

windows 10 1803microsoft

all

windows 10 1809microsoft

all

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.

An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when the Windows kernel f…

portal.msrc.microsoft.comGoogle-sheetJun 2020

An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when the Windows kernel f…

cisa.govCISAJul 2021

Frequently Asked Questions

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2020-0986 in your stack?

O3 detects CVE-2020-0986 across dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.

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