CVE-2020-16962: 
vulnerability analysis and mitigation

Windows Backup Engine Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability (CVE-2020-16962) was disclosed on December 9, 2020. This vulnerability affects various versions of Microsoft Windows operating systems, including Windows 10 and its different versions (1507, 1607, 1803, 1809, 1903, 1909, 2004, 20H2) (NVD).

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, indicating local access is required with low attack complexity and privilege requirements. The CVSS v2.0 base score is 7.2 (HIGH) with the vector (AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C) (NVD).

If successfully exploited, this vulnerability could allow an attacker to gain elevated privileges on affected systems, potentially leading to complete system compromise with high impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability (Rapid7).

The vulnerability requires local access to the system for exploitation. It is unique from several other Windows Backup Engine vulnerabilities (CVE-2020-16958, CVE-2020-16959, CVE-2020-16960, CVE-2020-16961, CVE-2020-16963, CVE-2020-16964) (NVD).

Microsoft has released security updates to address this vulnerability. Multiple KB patches are available including KB4592438, KB4592440, KB4592446, KB4592449, KB4592464, and KB4593226 for different affected Windows versions (Rapid7).