CVE-2020-18174

Privilege escalation via installer process injection

Published Jul 26, 2021 · Updated Aug 4, 2024

Process injection in setup.exe in AutoHotkey 1.1.32.00 allows attackers to escalate privileges during installer execution. The public assessment associates setup.exe with foreign-memory writes and thread manipulation but does not identify the attacker-controlled input or exact faulty operation. Execution of the affected Windows installer is required, and the documented consequence is elevation through injected installer activity.

CVSS severity9.8
Critical
EPSS probability1.29%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Process injection in setup.exe in AutoHotkey 1.1.32.00 allows attackers to escalate privileges during installer execution. The public assessment associates setup.exe with foreign-memory writes and thread manipulation but does not identify the attacker-controlled input or exact faulty operation. Execution of the affected Windows installer is required, and the documented consequence is elevation through injected installer activity.

The record

CVE
CVE-2020-18174
Published
Jul 26, 2021
Updated
Aug 4, 2024
Vendor
Unknown vendor
Product
Unknown product
Classifications
T1055
Attack vector
local
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jul 26, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 4, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Affected buildAffected product and version details are unavailable.

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.

Published CVSS scores

7.5NIST NVDAV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
9.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

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No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1055Process Injection

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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