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CVE-2020-0601

A spoofing vulnerability exists in the way Windows CryptoAPI (Crypt32.dll) validates Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) certificates.An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by using a spoofed code-signing certificate to sign a malicious executable, making it appear the file wa…

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A spoofing vulnerability exists in the way Windows CryptoAPI (Crypt32.dll) validates Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) certificates.An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by using a spoofed code-signing certificate to sign a malicious executable, making it appear the file was from a trusted, legitimate source, aka 'Windows CryptoAPI Spoofing Vulnerability'.
CVSS 8.1 (HIGH) KEV: KNOWN CATALOG

Attention and evidence

HYPE SCORE
0.0/10
REALITY · THREAT PRIORITY
8.7/10
General review priority; not probability

Evidence confidence: Exploitation recorded

Why this priority?
  • Recorded exploitation baseline: +7.00
  • Technical severity: CVSS 8.1: +1.21
  • Fresh EPSS: 89.08%: +0.45

General review priority, not probability, victim count or asset-specific risk. A range covers missing CVSS/EPSS inputs within the current evidence state.

Sources: 13 documents and public datasets.

Hype components

Headline sample (25%)
0/100
Press, 30 days (60%)
0/100
Grounded branding (15%)
0/100
HYPE TOTAL0/100

Sources and documents

The Record from Recorded Future News
Press · 08 Jan 2026, 08:00 · CISA sunsets 10 emergency directives thanks to evolution of exploited vulnerabilities catalog - The Record from Recorded Future News
www.trendmicro.com
Press · 13 Feb 2020, 08:00 · A Technical Analysis of CurveBall (CVE-2020-0601) - www.trendmicro.com
Crowe
Press · 28 Jan 2020, 08:00 · A Look at CurveBall, the CryptoAPI Spoofing Vulnerability - Crowe
CrowdStrike
Press · 24 Jan 2020, 08:00 · CrowdStrike Protects Against CVE-2020-0601 Vulnerability - CrowdStrike
Sophos
Press · 22 Jan 2020, 08:00 · CVE-2020-0601 Q&A - Sophos
See all 13 source documents
Security Affairs
Press · 21 Jan 2020, 08:00 · Yomi Hunter Catches the CurveBall - Security Affairs
www.trendmicro.com
Press · 17 Jan 2020, 08:00 · Free tool to patch against Vulnerability CVE-2020-0601 - www.trendmicro.com
www.trendmicro.com
Press · 17 Jan 2020, 08:00 · Blocking A CurveBall: PoCs Out for Critical Microsoft-NSA Bug CVE-2020-0601 - www.trendmicro.com
BleepingComputer
Press · 16 Jan 2020, 08:00 · Google Chrome Adds Protection for NSA's Windows CryptoAPI Flaw - BleepingComputer
Redmondmag.com
Press · 15 Jan 2020, 08:00 · Microsoft's January Security Updates Come with NSA Help - Redmondmag.com
Qualys
Press · 15 Jan 2020, 08:00 · Microsoft Windows CryptoAPI Spoofing Vulnerability (CVE-2020-0601) – How to Detect and Remediate - Qualys
BleepingComputer
Press · 14 Jan 2020, 08:00 · Microsoft's January 2020 Patch Tuesday Fixes 49 Vulnerabilities - BleepingComputer
BleepingComputer
Press · 14 Jan 2020, 08:00 · NSA's First Public Vulnerability Disclosure: An Effort to Build Trust - BleepingComputer

Score evolution

● Hype   ● Reality

Earlier evidence-support scores are retained in history; this chart shows only the current priority definition.

First record: hype 0.0 · reality 8.7 (2026-11-02 15:12). The curve appears once the score changes.

Public exploit evidence

10

Public exploit entries / repo candidates

See 10 repos with metrics
RepositoryStarsForksLanguageUpdated
ly4k/CurveBall890256Ruby20 Jan 2020, 23:33
kudelskisecurity/chainoffools33678Python09 May 2023, 14:27
ioncodes/Curveball204C06 Mar 2022, 10:53
IIICTECH/-CVE-2020-0601-ECC---EXPLOIT32Ruby19 Jan 2020, 18:26
gremwell/cve-2020-0601_poc22C++19 Feb 2020, 08:46
yanghaoi/CVE-2020-060112—08 Apr 2021, 16:53
apodlosky/PoC_CurveBall01C19 Feb 2020, 04:00
CrackerCat/CurveballCertTool02—06 Feb 2020, 22:04
JoelBts/CVE-2020-0601_PoC00Python16 May 2024, 12:53
okanulkr/CurveBall-CVE-2020-0601-PoC00Ruby27 Mar 2021, 13:34
Public exploit evidence
Evidence context and dated references

Reality is general threat/review priority, combining observed exploitation, CVSS severity and fresh EPSS. Evidence confidence is separate. This is not calibrated risk, a victim count or an asset-specific assessment. A range reflects missing numeric inputs.

Evidence in context

Confidence in exploitation evidence
Exploitation recorded
Priority basis
Recorded exploitation; CVSS 8.1; EPSS 89.1%
Attention, last 30 days
0 distinct story titles; 0 press documents; 0 publisher domains.
Technical potential
network access, no prior privileges, user interaction.
Observed activity
Exploitation recorded in CISA KEV.
Known scale
Not quantified.
Evidence confidence basis
Trusted exploitation confirmation

Score evaluated: 2026-11-05 13:58:11.176807+00:00 · EPSS snapshot: 2026-11-05T12:03:04Z

Source event timeline
First press mention
14 Jan 2020, 08:00
Published
14 Jan 2020, 23:11
Added to the CISA KEV catalog
03 Nov 2021, 00:00
Latest press mention
08 Jan 2026, 08:00
Score calculated
05 Nov 2026, 13:58
PoCs on GitHub
10 repositories