CVE-2020-1382: 
vulnerability analysis and mitigation

CVE-2020-1382 is an elevation of privilege vulnerability discovered in the Windows Graphics Component. The vulnerability was disclosed on July 14, 2020, affecting Microsoft Windows systems. The issue specifically occurs when the Windows Graphics Component improperly handles objects in memory (ZDI Advisory, NVD).

The specific flaw exists within the handling of the DirectComposition RemoveBindingManagerReferenceFromTrackerIfNecessary function in the kernel. The vulnerability stems from the lack of validating the existence of an object prior to performing operations on the object. The vulnerability has been assigned a CVSS score of 7.8 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) indicating its high severity (ZDI Advisory).

If successfully exploited, this vulnerability allows an attacker to escalate privileges and execute code in the context of the kernel. The attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system to exploit this vulnerability (ZDI Advisory).

The vulnerability requires local access and low privileges for exploitation. An attacker must first have the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system before they can attempt to exploit this vulnerability (ZDI Advisory).

Microsoft has released security updates to address this vulnerability. The fixes are available through KB4565483 for Windows 10 versions 1903 and 1909, and KB4565503 for Windows 10 version 2004 (Rapid7).