CVE-2020-1388: 
vulnerability analysis and mitigation

An elevation of privilege vulnerability identified as CVE-2020-1388 was discovered in Windows systems, specifically in how the psmsrv.dll handles objects in memory. The vulnerability was initially recorded on November 4, 2019, and was publicly disclosed on July 14, 2020. This vulnerability affects multiple versions of Microsoft Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016 (NVD, CVE Mitre).

The vulnerability has been assigned a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 (HIGH) with the vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Under CVSS v2.0, it received a base score of 4.6 (MEDIUM) with the vector (AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P). The vulnerability specifically relates to how psmsrv.dll handles objects in memory, and is distinct from similar vulnerabilities CVE-2020-1392, CVE-2020-1394, and CVE-2020-1395 (NVD).

The vulnerability could allow an attacker to gain elevated privileges on affected systems. Given the CVSS scoring, successful exploitation could result in high impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected systems (NVD).

Microsoft has released security patches to address this vulnerability. Users are advised to apply the security updates through the Microsoft Security Advisory (Microsoft Advisory).