CVE-2020-1472 Zerologon

An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when an attacker establishes a vulnerable Netlogon secure channel connection to a domain controller…

Browse: All 2020 CVEs · All vendors

CVSS score
5.5 Medium
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
CISA KEV
Yes — actively exploited (added 2021-11-03, remediation due 2022-05-03)
Ransomware
Known ransomware campaign use
Weakness (CWE)
CWE-330
Published
2020-08-17
Last modified
2026-06-17
NVD status
Analyzed

Description

An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when an attacker establishes a vulnerable Netlogon secure channel connection to a domain controller, using the Netlogon Remote Protocol (MS-NRPC). An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could run a specially crafted application on a device on the network. To exploit the vulnerability, an unauthenticated attacker would be required to use MS-NRPC to connect to a domain controller to obtain domain administrator access. Microsoft is addressing the vulnerability in a phased two-part rollout. These updates address the vulnerability by modifying how Netlogon handles the usage of Netlogon secure channels. For guidelines on how to manage the changes required for this vulnerability and more information on the phased rollout, see How to manage the changes in Netlogon secure channel connections associated with CVE-2020-1472 (updated September 28, 2020). When the second phase of Windows updates become available in Q1 2021, customers will be notified via a revision to this security vulnerability. If you wish to be notified when these updates are released, we recommend that you register for the security notifications mailer to be alerted of content changes to this advisory. See Microsoft Technical Security Notifications.

Affected products

Affected ranges per NVD CPE data; confirm exact versions in the vendor advisory.

Required action (CISA)

Apply updates per vendor instructions. Federal remediation deadline: 2022-05-03.

How to prioritize this

This vulnerability is on the CISA KEV list, meaning it is being actively exploited — treat it as urgent regardless of the raw CVSS number. Use the live CVE lookup for the latest NVD data, and the CVSS 3.1 calculator to model your own environmental score.

References

FAQ

Is CVE-2020-1472 actively exploited?

Yes. CISA added CVE-2020-1472 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 2021-11-03, with a federal remediation deadline of 2022-05-03. A KEV listing means real-world exploitation is confirmed, so patching this should be prioritized above many higher-CVSS bugs that aren't being exploited.

What is the CVSS score of CVE-2020-1472?

CVE-2020-1472 has a CVSS base score of 5.5 (Medium). Its vector string is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N.

Related vulnerabilities

Data source: NVD & CISA KEV. Shown as-is; nothing added. Last generated from NVD data — re-check the live tool for updates.