CVE-2019-1130
Published: 15 July 2019
Summary
CVE-2019-1130 is a high-severity Link Following (CWE-59) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 10 1709. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).
Operationally, ranked in the top 16.2% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and AC-6 (Least Privilege).
Deeper analysis
An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in the Windows AppX Deployment Service (AppXSVC) due to improper handling of hard links. The flaw, tracked as CVE-2019-1130 and distinct from CVE-2019-1129, carries a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.8 and is associated with CWE-59. It affects the AppX deployment component on supported Windows platforms.
A local attacker with low privileges can exploit the issue without user interaction to obtain full elevation of privilege, resulting in high impact to confidentiality, integrity, and availability on the affected system. The attack vector is local and requires only standard user rights to trigger the hard-link mishandling within AppXSVC.
Microsoft has published security guidance for CVE-2019-1130 through its Security Response Center, and the vulnerability appears in CISA's catalog of known exploited vulnerabilities, confirming observed in-the-wild use.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2019-9707
Vulnerability details
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-2019-1129.
- CWE(s)
- KEV Date Added
- 23 May 2022
Related Threats
No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Enforces least-privilege boundaries on AppXSVC so a low-privileged local user cannot abuse hard-link handling to obtain full elevation.
Requires the AppX Deployment Service to enforce access-control decisions correctly when processing hard links, blocking the unauthorized privilege escalation path.
Mandates prompt installation of the Microsoft patch that corrects the hard-link flaw in AppXSVC before exploitation can succeed.