CVE-2020-16959: 
vulnerability analysis and mitigation

Windows Backup Engine Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability (CVE-2020-16959) is a security flaw discovered in Microsoft Windows systems. The vulnerability was disclosed on December 9, 2020, and received a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 (HIGH) (NVD).

The vulnerability has been assigned a CVSS v3.1 vector of CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H, indicating local access is required, low attack complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction needed, and high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability (NVD).

If successfully exploited, this vulnerability could allow an attacker to gain elevated privileges on affected Windows systems, potentially leading to complete system compromise with high impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability (NVD).

The vulnerability requires local access and low privileges for exploitation. The attack complexity is considered low, making it relatively straightforward to exploit once an attacker has the necessary local access (NVD).

Microsoft has released security updates to address this vulnerability. Users should apply the appropriate patches through Windows Update or download and install them manually from the Microsoft Security Update Guide (Microsoft Advisory).