High severity · published Oct 16, 2020
CVE-2020-17023
<p>A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Visual Studio Code when a user is tricked into opening a malicious 'package.json' file
7.8
CVSS
4.6%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
<p>A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Visual Studio Code when a user is tricked into opening a malicious 'package.json' file. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could run arbitrary code in the context of the current user. If the current user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker could take control of the affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights.</p>
<p>To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would need to convince a target to clone a repository and open it in Visual Studio Code. Attacker-specified code would execute when the target opens the malicious 'package.json' file.</p>
<p>The update address the vulnerability by modifying the way Visual Studio Code handles JSON files.</p>
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)4.6% · higher than 92% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
VS
Visual Studio Code · Microsoft
All versions, or not specified · source: NVD
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-17023
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-17023
Patch
https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2020-17023
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