CVE-2020-0796

CRITICALNVD 10.010.0—
EchelonGraph scoreHIGH confidence

Score elevated to 10.0 because this CVE is listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-02-10), indicating real-world exploitation has been confirmed by US federal agencies. NVD baseline CVSS 10.0 retained for reference. Confidence: HIGH.

Triggered by: CISA KEV (actively exploited)
Sources: cisa_kev, epss, ghsa, nvd
Trending — 4 sources updated this weekExploited in the wild
10.0EG
EchelonGraph verdictMitigate nowTreat as an emergency — this is being exploited.
  • Actively exploited in the wild (CISA-KEV)
CISA-KEV: ExploitedEPSS PROB: 100%CVSS: 10.0Exploit: cisa kev · ssvc active · kev ransomware · Metasploit · epss top5pct · epss high · public exploitExposed services: Not assessed

A fix is referenced (a reference tagged "Patch", often a source commit), but no release containing it is confirmed — find the release that contains it; until it is applied, mitigate (WAF / firewall / segmentation).

A remote code execution vulnerability exists in the way that the Microsoft Server Message Block 3.1.1 (SMBv3) protocol handles certain requests, aka 'Windows SMBv3 Client/Server Remote Code Execution Vulnerability'.

CVSS v3
10.0
EG Score
10.0CRITICALhigh confidence
EG Risk
100
EG Risk 100/100CISA SSVC

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity100% × 45%
Exploitation100% × 40%
Automatability100% × 15%
CISA SSVC: Attend at low mission impact; Act at medium or high.
Action: A fix is referenced, but no release containing it is confirmed. Check the referenced fix and the vendor's advisory for a release that contains it and apply that sooner than your standard update timelines at low mission impact and as soon as possible at medium or high; until then, restrict network exposure of the affected system or apply the vendor's mitigation.
EPSS PROB
100%
EPSS %ILE
99th
KEV
⚠ Exploited

CISA SSVCAttend at low mission impact; Act at medium or high.

A fix is referenced, but no release containing it is confirmed. Check the referenced fix and the vendor's advisory for a release that contains it and apply that sooner than your standard update timelines at low mission impact and as soon as possible at medium or high; until then, restrict network exposure of the affected system or apply the vendor's mitigation.

Exploitation active (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable yes (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact total (CISA Vulnrichment). Mission impact is CISA's Mission & Well-being decision point, and only you can judge it: high means the affected system is essential to your organisation's mission, or its compromise could cause irreversible harm to people. CISA's decision table

Published

March 12, 2020

Last Modified

October 1, 2026

Advisory Details (7)

Auto-updated Oct 1, 2026
Fix referenced — no release confirmed yet. Sources: microsoft.
generic

Packet Storm - Human Validation

http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/156980/Microsoft-Windows-10-SMB-3.1.1-Local-Privilege-Escalation.html
generic

Packet Storm - Human Validation

http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/156732/Microsoft-Windows-SMB-3.1.1-Remote-Code-Execution.html
generic

Packet Storm - Human Validation

http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/156731/CoronaBlue-SMBGhost-Microsoft-Windows-10-SMB-3.1.1-Proof-Of-Concept.html
microsoftMentions a patch (unverified)

Security Update Guide - Microsoft Security Response Center

Security Update Guide - Microsoft Security Response Center. Patch available via Microsoft Security Update

https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2020-0796
generic

Packet Storm - Human Validation

http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/158054/SMBleed-SMBGhost-Pre-Authentication-Remote-Code-Execution-Proof-Of-Concept.html
generic

Packet Storm - Human Validation

http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/157901/Microsoft-Windows-SMBGhost-Remote-Code-Execution.html
generic

Packet Storm - Human Validation

http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/157110/SMBv3-Compression-Buffer-Overflow.html

Vendor Advisories for CVE-2020-0796(1)

These vendors published their own advisory mentioning this CVE — often with vendor-specific remediation steps + affected product lists not in NVD.

Weakness Classification(2)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 93× in last 7d / 379× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

Showing the most recent 100 of 1,523 total refreshes for this CVE.

  1. 2026-10-06 06:01 UTCVendor advisory
  2. 2026-10-06 05:57 UTCVendor advisory
  3. 2026-10-06 05:57 UTCVendor advisory
  4. 2026-10-06 05:57 UTCGHSA enrichment
  5. 2026-10-06 05:53 UTCVendor advisory
  6. 2026-10-06 05:52 UTCVendor advisory
  7. 2026-10-06 05:52 UTCGHSA enrichment
  8. 2026-10-06 05:48 UTCGHSA enrichment
  9. 2026-10-06 05:46 UTCNVD updatefirst tracked
  10. 2026-10-06 01:45 UTCVendor advisory
  11. 2026-10-06 01:45 UTCGHSA enrichment
  12. 2026-10-05 21:42 UTCVendor advisory
  13. 2026-10-05 21:41 UTCGHSA enrichment
  14. 2026-10-05 17:35 UTCVendor advisory
  15. 2026-10-05 17:35 UTCGHSA enrichment
  16. 2026-10-05 13:33 UTCVendor advisory
  17. 2026-10-05 13:32 UTCGHSA enrichment
  18. 2026-10-05 09:28 UTCVendor advisory
  19. 2026-10-05 09:28 UTCGHSA enrichment
  20. 2026-10-05 05:25 UTCVendor advisory
  21. 2026-10-05 05:25 UTCGHSA enrichment
  22. 2026-10-05 01:22 UTCVendor advisory
  23. 2026-10-05 01:22 UTCGHSA enrichment
  24. 2026-10-04 21:19 UTCVendor advisory
  25. 2026-10-04 21:19 UTCGHSA enrichment
Show 75 more
  1. 2026-10-04 17:16 UTCVendor advisory
  2. 2026-10-04 17:16 UTCGHSA enrichment
  3. 2026-10-04 13:13 UTCVendor advisory
  4. 2026-10-04 13:13 UTCGHSA enrichment
  5. 2026-10-04 09:11 UTCVendor advisory
  6. 2026-10-04 09:10 UTCGHSA enrichment
  7. 2026-10-04 05:07 UTCVendor advisory
  8. 2026-10-04 05:07 UTCGHSA enrichment
  9. 2026-10-04 01:05 UTCVendor advisory
  10. 2026-10-04 01:05 UTCGHSA enrichment
  11. 2026-10-03 21:01 UTCVendor advisory
  12. 2026-10-03 21:01 UTCGHSA enrichment
  13. 2026-10-03 16:58 UTCVendor advisory
  14. 2026-10-03 16:58 UTCGHSA enrichment
  15. 2026-10-03 12:55 UTCVendor advisory
  16. 2026-10-03 12:55 UTCGHSA enrichment
  17. 2026-10-03 08:52 UTCVendor advisory
  18. 2026-10-03 08:52 UTCGHSA enrichment
  19. 2026-10-03 04:49 UTCVendor advisory
  20. 2026-10-03 04:49 UTCGHSA enrichment
  21. 2026-10-03 00:46 UTCVendor advisory
  22. 2026-10-03 00:46 UTCGHSA enrichment
  23. 2026-10-02 20:43 UTCVendor advisory
  24. 2026-10-02 20:43 UTCGHSA enrichment
  25. 2026-10-02 16:40 UTCVendor advisory
  26. 2026-10-02 16:40 UTCGHSA enrichment
  27. 2026-10-02 12:34 UTCVendor advisory
  28. 2026-10-02 12:34 UTCGHSA enrichment
  29. 2026-10-02 08:32 UTCVendor advisory
  30. 2026-10-02 08:32 UTCGHSA enrichment
  31. 2026-10-02 04:29 UTCVendor advisory
  32. 2026-10-02 04:28 UTCGHSA enrichment
  33. 2026-10-02 00:25 UTCVendor advisory
  34. 2026-10-02 00:25 UTCGHSA enrichment
  35. 2026-10-01 20:23 UTCVendor advisory
  36. 2026-10-01 20:22 UTCGHSA enrichment
  37. 2026-10-01 20:01 UTCEG score recompute
  38. 2026-10-01 20:01 UTCVendor advisory
  39. 2026-10-01 20:01 UTCGHSA enrichment
  40. 2026-10-01 18:47 UTCVendor advisory
  41. 2026-10-01 18:47 UTCGHSA enrichment
  42. 2026-10-01 14:44 UTCVendor advisory
  43. 2026-10-01 14:44 UTCGHSA enrichment
  44. 2026-10-01 10:41 UTCVendor advisory
  45. 2026-10-01 10:41 UTCGHSA enrichment
  46. 2026-10-01 06:38 UTCVendor advisory
  47. 2026-10-01 06:38 UTCGHSA enrichment
  48. 2026-10-01 02:35 UTCVendor advisory
  49. 2026-10-01 02:35 UTCGHSA enrichment
  50. 2026-09-30 22:32 UTCVendor advisory
  51. 2026-09-30 22:32 UTCGHSA enrichment
  52. 2026-09-30 18:29 UTCGHSA enrichment
  53. 2026-09-30 14:25 UTCVendor advisory
  54. 2026-09-30 14:25 UTCGHSA enrichment
  55. 2026-09-30 10:19 UTCVendor advisory
  56. 2026-09-30 10:19 UTCGHSA enrichment
  57. 2026-09-30 06:14 UTCVendor advisory
  58. 2026-09-30 06:14 UTCGHSA enrichment
  59. 2026-09-30 02:10 UTCVendor advisory
  60. 2026-09-30 02:10 UTCGHSA enrichment
  61. 2026-09-29 22:07 UTCVendor advisory
  62. 2026-09-29 22:07 UTCGHSA enrichment
  63. 2026-09-29 18:03 UTCVendor advisory
  64. 2026-09-29 18:03 UTCGHSA enrichment
  65. 2026-09-29 13:56 UTCVendor advisory
  66. 2026-09-29 13:56 UTCGHSA enrichment
  67. 2026-09-29 09:53 UTCVendor advisory
  68. 2026-09-29 09:53 UTCGHSA enrichment
  69. 2026-09-29 05:50 UTCVendor advisory
  70. 2026-09-29 05:50 UTCGHSA enrichment
  71. 2026-09-29 01:47 UTCVendor advisory
  72. 2026-09-29 01:47 UTCGHSA enrichment
  73. 2026-09-28 21:44 UTCEG score recompute
  74. 2026-09-28 21:44 UTCVendor advisory
  75. 2026-09-28 21:44 UTCGHSA enrichment

Publicly available exploits

(10 references)

Working exploit code is in the public domain (2 Metasploit modules) (6 GitHub PoCs) (2 Exploit-DB entries). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.

  • Metasploitexploit/windows/local/cve_2020_0796_smbghost✓ verified
    First seen Mar 13, 2020

    SMBv3 Compression Buffer Overflow

    Open source ↗
  • Metasploitexploit/windows/smb/cve_2020_0796_smbghost✓ verified
    First seen Mar 13, 2020

    SMBv3 Compression Buffer Overflow

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCrsmudge/CVE-2020-0796-BOF
    First seen Sep 17, 2020
    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCBarriuso/SMBGhost_AutomateExploitation
    First seen Jun 10, 2020

    SMBGhost (CVE-2020-0796) Automate Exploitation and Detection

    Open source ↗
  • Exploit-DBEDB-48537
    First seen Jun 2, 2020

    Microsoft Windows - 'SMBGhost' Remote Code Execution

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCjamf/CVE-2020-0796-RCE-POC
    First seen Apr 20, 2020

    CVE-2020-0796 Remote Code Execution POC

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCRvn0xsy/CVE_2020_0796_CNA
    First seen Apr 6, 2020

    Cobalt Strike AggressorScripts CVE-2020-0796

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCjiansiting/CVE-2020-0796
    First seen Apr 1, 2020
    Open source ↗
  • Exploit-DBEDB-48267
    First seen Mar 30, 2020

    Microsoft Windows 10 (1903/1909) - 'SMBGhost' SMB3.1.1 'SMB2_COMPRESSION_CAPABILITIES' Local Privilege Escalation

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCdanigargu/CVE-2020-0796
    First seen Mar 30, 2020

    CVE-2020-0796 - Windows SMBv3 LPE exploit #SMBGhost

    Open source ↗

Related CVEs(same CWE)

Frequently asked(6)

What is CVE-2020-0796?
CVE-2020-0796 is a critical vulnerability published on March 12, 2020. A remote code execution vulnerability exists in the way that the Microsoft Server Message Block 3.1.1 (SMBv3) protocol handles certain requests, aka 'Windows SMBv3 Client/Server Remote Code Execution Vulnerability'.
When was CVE-2020-0796 disclosed?
CVE-2020-0796 was first published on March 12, 2020, with the most recent update on October 1, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2020-0796 actively exploited?
Yes. CISA added CVE-2020-0796 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on February 10, 2022, affecting Microsoft SMBv3. KEV listing indicates confirmed exploitation in the wild; this CVE warrants immediate attention. A fix is referenced, but no release containing it is confirmed. Check the referenced fix and the vendor's advisory for a release that contains it and apply that; until then, restrict network exposure of the affected system or apply the vendor's mitigation.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2020-0796?
CVE-2020-0796 has a CVSS v3 base score of 10.0 (NVD).
Which products are affected by CVE-2020-0796?
CVE-2020-0796 affects Microsoft SMBv3.
How do I remediate CVE-2020-0796?
A fix for CVE-2020-0796 is referenced (a reference tagged "Patch", often a source commit), but EchelonGraph has no release containing it on record. Check that reference and the vendor's advisory for a release that contains the fix and update to it; until then, restrict network exposure of the affected system or apply the vendor's mitigation. The vendor advisories EchelonGraph has for CVE-2020-0796 are linked in the Vendor Advisories panel on this page.

Dependency Blast Radius

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