{"id":"CVE-2020-1472","kind":"vulnerability","aliases":["CVE-2020-1472"],"related":[],"title":"Microsoft Netlogon: Microsoft Netlogon Privilege Escalation Vulnerability","description":"An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when an attacker establishes a vulnerable Netlogon secure channel connection to a domain controller, using the Netlogon Remote Protocol (MS-NRPC). An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could run a specially crafted application on a device on the network.\nTo exploit the vulnerability, an unauthenticated attacker would be required to use MS-NRPC to connect to a domain controller to obtain domain administrator access.\nMicrosoft is addressing the vulnerability in a phased two-part rollout. These updates address the vulnerability by modifying how Netlogon handles the usage of Netlogon secure channels.\nFor guidelines on how to manage the changes required for this vulnerability and more information on the phased rollout, see  How to manage the changes in Netlogon secure channel connections associated with CVE-2020-1472 (updated September 28, 2020).\nWhen the second phase of Windows updates become available in Q1 2021, customers will be notified via a revision to this security vulnerability. If you wish to be notified when these updates are released, we recommend that you register for the security notifications mailer to be alerted of content changes to this advisory. See Microsoft Technical Security Notifications.","summary":"Microsoft Netlogon (Zerologon) contains a flaw in the Netlogon Remote Protocol that lets an attacker on the network establish a vulnerable secure channel to a domain controller and escalate privileges. CISA lists it as actively exploited, and the sources note ransomware use.","severity":"critical","cvss":10.0,"epss":0.99389,"exploited":true,"exploited_at":"2021-11-03T00:00:00+00:00","products":[{"name":"Microsoft Netlogon","fixed":[],"affected":"","ecosystem":"vendor"}],"ecosystems":["vendor"],"tags":["active-directory","domain-controllers","exploited","infrastructure","ransomware","windows"],"not_affected_if":["no-domain-controllers"],"how_to_check":null,"fix":"Apply Microsoft's updates for CVE-2020-1472 per vendor instructions, as directed by CISA.","status":"open","published_at":"2020-08-17T19:15:15+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T19:11:53+00:00","triaged_at":"2026-10-23T21:43:24+00:00","updated_at":"2026-10-23T21:57:34+00:00","category":"infrastructure","confidence":0.8,"triage":{"at":"2026-10-23T21:43:24Z","model":"claude-haiku-5-5","output":{"fix":"Apply Microsoft's updates for CVE-2020-1472 per vendor instructions, as directed by CISA.","reach":"network","impact":"high","summary":"Microsoft Netlogon (Zerologon) contains a flaw in the Netlogon Remote Protocol that lets an attacker on the network establish a vulnerable secure channel to a domain controller and escalate privileges. CISA lists it as actively exploited, and the sources note ransomware use.","category":"infrastructure","who_cares":["windows","active-directory","domain-controllers"],"confidence":0.8,"needs_auth":"no","worst_case":"Attacker takes over the domain controller and the whole Windows domain","analyst_note":"Find the Microsoft security update guide entry for CVE-2020-1472 and the enforcement-mode registry steps to confirm how to check for vulnerable domain controllers.","how_to_check":"unknown","needs_analyst":true,"not_affected_if":["no-domain-controllers"],"user_interaction":"no","needs_special_setup":"no","severity_if_unknown":"critical"},"cost_usd":0.00048,"input_tokens":2916,"output_tokens":377,"severity_before":"unknown"},"analyst_status":"queued","analyst_note":"Find the Microsoft security update guide entry for CVE-2020-1472 and the enforcement-mode registry steps to confirm how to check for vulnerable domain controllers.","search":"'-1472':10A,13A,203C '-2020':9A,12A,202C '2020':207C '2021':219C '28':206C 'access':140C 'activ':17B,60B 'active-directori':16B 'address':143C,155C 'administr':139C 'advisori':260C 'alert':254C 'applic':108C 'associ':199C 'attack':40B,76C,97C,121C 'avail':216C 'becom':215C 'chang':176C,193C,257C 'channel':48B,82C,168C,197C 'cisa':56B 'connect':83C,131C,198C 'contain':29B 'content':256C 'control':21B,52B,87C,135C 'could':103C 'craft':107C 'custom':220C 'cve':8A,11A,201C 'devic':111C 'directori':18B 'domain':20B,51B,86C,134C,138C 'domain-control':19B 'elev':69C 'escal':6A,54B 'establish':44B,77C 'exist':73C 'exploit':22B,61B,100C,116C 'flaw':31B 'guidelin':170C 'handl':162C 'inform':183C 'infrastructur':23B 'let':38B 'list':57B 'mailer':251C 'manag':174C,191C 'microsoft':1A,3A,14A,26B,141C,262C 'modifi':159C 'ms':94C,128C 'ms-nrpc':93C,127C 'netlogon':2A,4A,15A,27B,34B,80C,90C,161C,166C,195C 'network':43B,114C 'note':65B 'notif':250C,265C 'notifi':223C,236C 'nrpc':95C,129C 'obtain':137C 'part':151C 'phase':148C,186C,211C 'privileg':5A,55B,71C 'protocol':36B,92C 'q1':218C 'ransomwar':24B,66B 'recommend':243C 'regist':246C 'releas':241C 'remot':35B,91C 'requir':124C,177C 'revis':226C 'rollout':152C,187C 'run':104C 'second':210C 'secur':47B,81C,167C,196C,229C,249C,264C 'see':188C,261C 'septemb':205C 'sourc':64B 'special':106C 'success':99C 'technic':263C 'two':150C 'two-part':149C 'unauthent':120C 'updat':154C,204C,214C,239C 'usag':164C 'use':67B,88C,126C 'via':224C 'vulner':7A,46B,72C,79C,102C,118C,145C,157C,180C,230C 'window':25B,213C 'wish':233C 'would':122C 'zerologon':28B","nicknames":[],"mitigations":[],"who_affected":null,"tier":null,"verified":{},"analyst_revisit_at":null,"first_public_at":"2020-08-17T19:15:15+00:00","kev":{"dateAdded":"2021-11-03","dueDate":"2022-05-03","requiredAction":"Apply updates per vendor instructions.","knownRansomwareCampaignUse":"Known"},"cvss_vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N","cvss_by":"secure@microsoft.com","poc_count":0,"sources":[{"source":"kev","external_id":"CVE-2020-1472","url":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?search_api_fulltext=CVE-2020-1472","severity":null,"published_at":"2021-11-03T00:00:00+00:00","modified_at":null,"first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T19:11:53+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-10-25T12:39:25+00:00","note":null},{"source":"epss","external_id":"CVE-2020-1472","url":"https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2020-1472","severity":null,"published_at":null,"modified_at":null,"first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T19:13:43+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-10-23T19:13:43+00:00","note":null},{"source":"nvd","external_id":"CVE-2020-1472","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-1472","severity":null,"published_at":"2020-08-17T19:15:15+00:00","modified_at":"2026-06-17T03:01:29+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T21:57:34+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-10-23T21:57:34+00:00","note":null}],"documents":[],"notice":"Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai"}