CVE-2019-0841
Microsoft Windows 10 1703
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
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 Path Interception (T1034); 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)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2019-1592
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)
- KEV Date Added
- 15 March 2022
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V15.4.2
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.
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.
Security testing can detect link-following flaws before release.
Secure SDLC practices can mandate link-resolution checks and canonicalization before file access.
Application security requirements can explicitly require safe handling of symbolic links and path traversal.
Secure architecture principles include input validation and safe file-access design patterns.
Secure coding standards directly address canonicalization and symlink attacks during implementation.
Access-control rules can limit which files are reachable, reducing exposure to malicious links.