# CVE-2020-14979 — Evga Precision X1

> As of 2024-08-04, CVE-2020-14979 is a HIGH-severity vulnerability in Evga Precision X1, CVSS v3.1 7.8, EPSS 0.6% (47.3th percentile). Threadlinqs Intelligence links 1 tracked threat campaign to CVE-2020-14979, most recently “PowerShell Cryptomining Loader Abuses Registry-Resident Scripts, DNS TXT Records, and PNG/WAV Steganography for Stealth C2”.

**Last updated:** 2024-08-04

## What is CVE-2020-14979?

The WinRing0.sys and WinRing0x64.sys drivers 1.2.0 in EVGA Precision X1 through 1.0.6 allow local users, including low integrity processes, to read and write to arbitrary memory locations. This allows any user to gain NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM privileges by mapping \Device\PhysicalMemory into the calling process.

Its CVSS v3 base vector states that the flaw requires local access to the host, needs low-privilege credentials, needs no user interaction, and has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability. 2 affected-product entries are recorded, across 2 vendors, listed below. The identifier was first published 2264 days ago.

## Severity and exploitation probability

- **CVSS v3.1 base score:** 7.8 — HIGH (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **EPSS (FIRST):** 0.6% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 47.3% of all scored CVEs
- **CISA KEV:** Not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
- **Threadlinqs priority:** 7.8/10 — a Threadlinqs composite of the CVSS base score, the EPSS percentile and public exploit availability
- **Published:** 2020-08-11, last modified 2024-08-04

## Is CVE-2020-14979 being exploited?

Weaponised exploit code for CVE-2020-14979 is publicly available. 2 public proof-of-concept repositories are tracked for this identifier. It currently carries a trending score of 25 in the Threadlinqs vulnerability feed.

- [hexatriene/nuc-winring0-fix](https://github.com/hexatriene/nuc-winring0-fix) (github)
- [trickest/cve](https://github.com/trickest/cve/blob/main/2020/CVE-2020-14979.md) (trickest)

## Affected products and versions

- **Evga**: Precision X1
- **Winring0 Project**: Winring0 1.2.0

## How to fix CVE-2020-14979

Vendor advisory: [https://www.evga.com/precisionx1/](https://www.evga.com/precisionx1/). Apply the vendor fix referenced above to every affected product listed in this record, then confirm the running version against the vendor advisory.

## Threat activity tracking CVE-2020-14979

1 tracked threat in the Threadlinqs corpus references CVE-2020-14979, either in the campaign’s CVE list or as an indicator on the campaign record.

- [PowerShell Cryptomining Loader Abuses Registry-Resident Scripts, DNS TXT Records, and PNG/WAV Steganography for Stealth C2](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/threat/TL-2026-2593) — MEDIUM · 2026-09-20

## Sources

Enriched from CVE.org, NVD, FIRST EPSS, public proof-of-concept repositories. Last verified by Threadlinqs on 2026-10-10. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.

**Other references**

- [evga.com](https://www.evga.com/precisionx1/)
- [posts.specterops.io](https://posts.specterops.io/cve-2020-14979-local-privilege-escalation-in-evga-precisionx1-cf63c6b95896)

Canonical: https://intel.threadlinqs.com/cve/CVE-2020-14979
Full detection coverage and IOCs for threats exploiting CVE-2020-14979 via the Threadlinqs MCP server (Purple tier): https://intel.threadlinqs.com/mcp