Vulnerability · Published Sep 11, 2020 · Assigned by microsoft
CVE-2020-16881Visual Studio JSON Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
High 7.8
In plain English
A high-severity security flaw in Visual Studio Code from Microsoft. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 5.4% (higher than 93% of all known vulnerabilities).
Official 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>
Affected products (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft | Visual Studio Code | 1.0.0 – before publication |