CVE-2021-1680Public exploit

SYSTEM privilege escalation via CollectionSession data race

Published Jan 12, 2021 · Updated Oct 8, 2024

A data race in Diagnostics Hub Standard Collector allows local users to elevate privileges from a standard account to SYSTEM. Concurrent COM calls against the CollectionSession object access shared state without adequate synchronization, allowing corruption in its privileged service process. A low-privileged local session and access to the exposed COM interface are required; successful exploitation executes code as SYSTEM.

CVSS severity7.8
High
EPSS probability0.71%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

A data race in Diagnostics Hub Standard Collector allows local users to elevate privileges from a standard account to SYSTEM. Concurrent COM calls against the CollectionSession object access shared state without adequate synchronization, allowing corruption in its privileged service process. A low-privileged local session and access to the exposed COM interface are required; successful exploitation executes code as SYSTEM.

The record

CVE
CVE-2021-1680
Published
Jan 12, 2021
Updated
Oct 8, 2024
Vendor
Microsoft
Product
Microsoft Visual Studio 2019
Classifications
CWE-269, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jan 12, 2021CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Oct 8, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=16.0.0 <publication
  2. Affected versionversion=16.0 <publication

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Microsoft · Microsoft Visual Studio 2019version=16.0.0 <publication; version=16.0 <publication
Microsoft · Windows 10 Version 1507version=10.0.0 <publication
Microsoft · Windows Server 2019version=10.0.0 <publication
Microsoft · Windows 10 Version 1909version=10.0.0 <publication
Microsoft · Windows 10 Version 1803version=10.0.0 <publication
Microsoft · Microsoft Visual Studio 2015version=14.0.0 <publication
Microsoft · Windows Server 2016 (Server Core installation)version=10.0.0 <publication
Microsoft · Windows Server, version 2004version=10.0.0 <publication
Microsoft · Windows Server 2016version=10.0.0 <publication
Microsoft · Windows 10 Version 20H2version=10.0.0 <publication
Microsoft · Windows Server 2019 (Server Core installation)version=10.0.0 <publication
Microsoft · Microsoft Visual Studio 2019 version 16.8version=16.0 <publication
Microsoft · Windows Server version 20H2version=10.0.0 <publication
Microsoft · Windows 10 Version 1607version=10.0.0 <publication
Microsoft · Microsoft Visual Studio 2017version=15.9.0 <publication
Microsoft · Windows 10 Version 2004version=10.0.0 <publication
Microsoft · Windows 10 Version 1809version=10.0.0 <publication
Microsoft · Windows Server, version 1909 (Server Core installation)version=10.0.0 <publication

Published CVSS scores

4.6NIST NVDAV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
7.8Microsoft CorporationCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

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
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-269Improper Privilege Management
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

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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