CVE-2020-1020

HIGH KEV

Microsoft Windows - Remote Code Execution via Adobe Type Manager Library Font Parsing

Title source: llm
STIX 2.1

Exploitation Summary

CVE-2020-1020 is actively exploited and listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, added November 3, 2021. EIP tracks 2 public exploits from researchers including KaLendsi, CrackerCat.

AI-analyzed exploit summary This is a working proof-of-concept exploit for CVE-2020-1020, targeting a Windows kernel vulnerability in the font handling mechanism. The exploit leverages a type confusion bug in the NtGdiAddRemoteFontToDC function to achieve arbitrary read/write in kernel memory, leading to local privilege escalation.

Description

A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Microsoft Windows when the Windows Adobe Type Manager Library improperly handles a specially-crafted multi-master font - Adobe Type 1 PostScript format.For all systems except Windows 10, an attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could execute code remotely, aka 'Adobe Font Manager Library Remote Code Execution Vulnerability'. This CVE ID is unique from CVE-2020-0938.

Exploits (2)

nomisec WORKING POC 11 stars
by KaLendsi · client-side
https://github.com/KaLendsi/CVE-2020-1020

This is a working proof-of-concept exploit for CVE-2020-1020, targeting a Windows kernel vulnerability in the font handling mechanism. The exploit leverages a type confusion bug in the NtGdiAddRemoteFontToDC function to achieve arbitrary read/write in kernel memory, leading to local privilege escalation.

Classification
Working Poc 90%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Complex
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Microsoft Windows (Windows 7, 8, 10)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Local access to the target system · Ability to execute arbitrary code on the target system
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 1 stars
by CrackerCat · local
https://github.com/CrackerCat/CVE-2020-1020-Exploit

This repository contains a proof-of-concept exploit for CVE-2020-1020, targeting a vulnerability in Windows font handling. The exploit leverages malformed FontType1 data to achieve arbitrary code execution via syscalls and shellcode injection.

Classification
Working Poc 90%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Complex
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Windows 7/8 (win32k.sys)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Local access to a vulnerable Windows system
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →

Scores

CVSS v3 8.8
EPSS 0.8568
EPSS Percentile 99.4%
Attack Vector NETWORK
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CISA SSVC

Vulnrichment
Exploitation active
Automatable no
Technical Impact total

Details

CISA KEV 2021-11-03
VulnCheck KEV 2020-04-14
InTheWild.io 2020-04-14
ENISA EUVD EUVD-2020-11916
CWE
CWE-787
Status published
Products (18)
microsoft/windows_10_1507 (2 CPE variants)
microsoft/windows_10_1607
microsoft/windows_10_1709
microsoft/windows_10_1803 (3 CPE variants)
microsoft/windows_10_1809 (3 CPE variants)
microsoft/windows_10_1903 (3 CPE variants)
microsoft/windows_10_1909 (3 CPE variants)
microsoft/windows_7
microsoft/windows_8.1
microsoft/windows_rt_8.1
... and 8 more
Published Apr 15, 2020
KEV Added Nov 03, 2021
Tracked Since Feb 18, 2026