Security Resilience

CVE-2019-0841

Microsoft Windows 10 1703

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedPublic PoCRansomware-linked
Published
09 April 2019
Modified
29 October 2025
KEV Added
15 March 2022
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.41 99th percentile
Risk Priority 83 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2019-0841 is a high-severity Link Following (CWE-59) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 10 1703. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Security Account Manager (T1003.002); ranked in the top 1% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

An elevation of privilege vulnerability tracked as CVE-2019-0841 affects the Windows AppX Deployment Service (AppXSVC), which improperly handles hard links. The flaw is classified under CWE-59 and carries a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.8, reflecting local attack vector, low complexity, and low privileges required with no user interaction needed to impact confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

A local attacker who already possesses a low-privileged account on an affected Windows system can exploit the hard-link handling issue to escalate privileges to higher levels, potentially obtaining full control over the target machine. Public proof-of-concept code demonstrating this local privilege-escalation path has been posted to Packet Storm in multiple files referencing AppXSVC.

The listed references consist entirely of exploit artifacts rather than vendor advisories or patch guidance, indicating that detailed technical descriptions and working implementations of the attack were made available shortly after disclosure.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A01:2025 Broken Access Control

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when Windows AppX Deployment Service (AppXSVC) improperly handles hard links, aka 'Windows Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability'. This CVE ID is unique from CVE-2019-0730, CVE-2019-0731, CVE-2019-0796, CVE-2019-0805, CVE-2019-0836.

CWE(s)
CWE-59
KEV Date Added
15 March 2022

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1003.002 Security Account Manager Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to extract credential material from the Security Account Manager (SAM) database either through in-memory techniques or through the Windows Registry where the SAM database is stored.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.005 Cached Domain Credentials Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access cached domain credentials used to allow authentication to occur in the event a domain controller is unavailable.
attack.mitre.org →
T1011 Exfiltration Over Other Network Medium Exfiltration
Adversaries may attempt to exfiltrate data over a different network medium than the command and control channel.
attack.mitre.org →
T1016 System Network Configuration Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may look for details about the network configuration and settings, such as IP and/or MAC addresses, of systems they access or through information discovery of remote systems.
attack.mitre.org →
T1020 Automated Exfiltration Exfiltration
Adversaries may exfiltrate data, such as sensitive documents, through the use of automated processing after being gathered during Collection.
attack.mitre.org →
T1021.003 Distributed Component Object Model Lateral Movement
Adversaries may use [Valid Accounts](https://attack.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2019-1385Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1709both on KEV
CVE-2019-1129Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1703both on KEV
CVE-2019-1253Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1703both on KEV
CVE-2019-1064Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1703both on KEV
CVE-2019-1069Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1703both on KEV
CVE-2019-1315Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1703both on KEV
CVE-2019-1130Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1703both on KEV
CVE-2020-0638Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1709both on KEV
CVE-2020-0787Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1709both on KEV
CVE-2020-0683Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1709both on KEV

Affected Assets

microsoft
windows 10 1703
all versions
microsoft
windows 10 1709
all versions
microsoft
windows 10 1803
all versions
microsoft
windows 10 1809
all versions
microsoft
windows server 2016
1803
microsoft
windows server 2019
all versions

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 partial match
blocks

Secure SDLC practices directly require code to validate paths and avoid unsafe link following.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.5.14 Information transfer partial match
removes
A.5.15 Access control partial match
removes
A.5.16 Identity management partial match
removes
A.5.17 Authentication information partial match
removes
A.5.18 Access rights partial match
removes
A.8.10 Information deletion partial match
removes

References