Summary
Impact: Elevation of Privilege. Microsoft rating: Important. Not known to be exploited — Exploitation Less Likely. Customer action: Required.
Details
I am running SQL Server on my system. What action do I need to take?
Update your relevant version of SQL Server. Any applicable driver fixes are included in those updates.
First, determine your SQL Server version number. For more information on determining your SQL Server version number, see Microsoft Knowledge Base Article 321185 - How to determine the version, edition, and update level of SQL Server and its components., Second, in the following table, locate your version number or the version range that your version number falls within. The corresponding update is the one you need to install.
5073177: 5073177, SQL Server 2025 RTM+GDR (January GDR): SQL Server 2025 RTM+GDR (January GDR), 17.0.1050.2: 17.0.1050.2, 17.0.1000.7: 17.0.1000.7, N/A: N/A, 5072936: 5072936, SQL Server 2022 CU22+GDR (January GDR): SQL Server 2022 CU22+GDR (January GDR), 16.0.4230.2: 16.0.4230.2, 16.0.4003.1 – 16.0.4225.2: 16.0.4003.1 – 16.0.4225.2, KB5068450 – Previous SQL2022 RTM CU22: KB5068450 – Previous SQL2022 RTM CU22, 5073031: 5073031, SQL Server 2022 RTM+GDR (January GDR): SQL Server 2022 RTM+GDR (January GDR), 16.0.1165.1: 16.0.1165.1, 16.0.1000.6 – 16.0.1160.1: 16.0.1000.6 – 16.0.1160.1, KB5068407 – Previous SQL2022 RTM GDR: KB5068407 – Previous SQL2022 RTM GDR
The General Distribution Release (GDR) and Cumulative Update (CU) designations correspond to the two different servicing options in place for SQL Server baseline releases. A baseline can be either an RTM release or a Service Pack release.
GDR updates – cumulatively only contain security updates for the given baseline., CU updates – cumulatively contain all functional fixes and security updates for the given baseline.
For any given baseline, either the GDR or CU updates could be options (see below).
If SQL Server installation is at a baseline version, you can choose either the GDR or CU update., If SQL Server installation has intentionally only installed past GDR updates, then choose to install the GDR update package., If SQL Server installation has intentionally installed previous CU updates, then choose to install the CU security update package.
Yes. SQL Server instances on Windows Azure (IaaS) can be offered the security updates through Microsoft Update, or customers can download the security updates from Microsoft Download Center and apply them manually.
What privileges could be gained by an attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability?
An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain debugging privileges including the ability to dump memory.
Security updates
16.0.1165.1 — https://support.microsoft.com/help/5073031
17.0.1050.2 — https://support.microsoft.com/help/5073177
16.0.4230.2 — https://support.microsoft.com/help/5072936
Vulnerabilities 1
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High 7.2
Microsoft SQL Server Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Missing authentication for critical function in SQL Server allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges over a network.
Revision history
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#1
Information published.
References
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CVE-2026-20803 Microsoft SQL Server Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability - HTML
https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-20803
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Microsoft Exploitability Index
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/msrc/exploitability-index?rtc=1
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Microsoft Support Lifecycle
https://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle
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Common Vulnerability Scoring System
https://www.first.org/cvss