CVE-2019-1188LNK Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
- 7.5HighCVSS base score
- 3.7%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 10.0% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- YesPublic exploitsa reference or SSVC says so
Description
A remote code execution vulnerability exists in Microsoft Windows that could allow remote code execution if a .LNK file is processed. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain the same user rights as the local user. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights. The attacker could present to the user a removable drive, or remote share, that contains a malicious .LNK file and an associated malicious binary. When the user opens this drive(or remote share) in Windows Explorer, or any other application that parses the .LNK file, the malicious binary will execute code of the attacker’s choice, on the target system. The security update addresses the vulnerability by correcting the processing of shortcut LNK references.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. CISA's SSVC rates its exploitation: a proof of concept is public.
Timeline
ID reserved
By microsoft
- 9 months later
· 9 months later
Published
- 5 years later
· 5 years later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| microsoftCNA (assigner) | 3.1 | High7.5 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:P/RL:O/RC:C |
| NVDNVD · Modified | 3.1 | High7.5 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 3.7% · top 10.0% of all CVEs (13 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: poc · Automatable: no · Technical impact: total
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 7.5.
Affected products
Microsoft · Windows 10 Version 1803
- affected 10.0.0 – < publication
Microsoft · Windows Server, version 1803 (Server Core Installation)
- affected 10.0.0 – < publication
Microsoft · Windows 10 Version 1809
- affected 10.0.0 – < publication
Microsoft · Windows Server 2019
- affected 10.0.0 – < publication
Microsoft · Windows Server 2019 (Server Core installation)
- affected 10.0.0 – < publication
Microsoft · Windows 10 Version 1709 for 32-bit Systems
- affected 10.0.0 – < publication
Microsoft · Windows 10 Version 1709
- affected 10.0.0 – < publication
Microsoft · Windows 10 Version 1903 for 32-bit Systems
- affected 10.0.0 – < publication
Microsoft · Windows 10 Version 1903 for x64-based Systems
- affected 10.0.0 – < publication
Microsoft · Windows 10 Version 1903 for ARM64-based Systems
- affected 10.0.0 – < publication
Microsoft · Windows Server, version 1903 (Server Core installation)
- affected 10.0.0 – < publication
References
References1
- https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2019-1188 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2019-9759 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2019-1188)Record last updated .