Unpatched Windows zero-day from 2020 gives hackers full system access
A critical Windows 11 vulnerability, CVE-2020-17103, remains unpatched despite Microsoft's claims of a fix in 2020. Discovered by security researcher Nightmare-Eclipse, the flaw allows hackers to gain full system access using a proof-of-concept exploit called MiniPlasma. This unresolved zero-day vulnerability poses significant security risks for all Windows versions, highlighting the importance of robust antivirus protection.
- ▪The vulnerability CVE-2020-17103 was supposedly patched by Microsoft in 2020 but is still exploitable.
- ▪Nightmare-Eclipse created a proof-of-concept exploit named MiniPlasma that demonstrates the flaw's dangers.
- ▪The security researcher believes the vulnerability affects all versions of Windows and emphasizes the need for strong antivirus protection.
4 outlets in our directory ran this story, first to last over 18 hours. All of the coverage we found sits in one bucket: centre. That one-sidedness is itself worth noticing.
- ▪ New Windows 'MiniPlasma' zero-day exploit gives SYSTEM access, PoC released — BleepingComputer
- ▪ New Windows 'MiniPlasma' zero-day exploit gives SYSTEM access, PoC released — r/cybersecurity
- ▪ New Windows 'MiniPlasma' zero-day exploit gives SYSTEM access, PoC released — /r/Technology
PCWorld files mainly under tech. We currently carry 282 of its stories.
Story provenance
Source · retrieval · rights · ranking — open for full record
inspect →
Story provenance
Attribution is not the same as permission. This drawer separates discovery metadata, excerpts, WeSearch-generated summaries, reuse status, and whether the publisher receives the visit. Nothing here claims a legal grant the publisher has not made.
Record
| Original publisher | PCWorld |
| Canonical URL | https://www.pcworld.com/article/3142563/unpatched-windows-zero-day-from-2020-gives-hackers-full-system-access.html |
| Publication time | Mon, 18 May 2026 16:20:23 +0000 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-05-18T16:24:56.631Z |
| Last seen | 2026-05-18T16:24:56.631Z |
| Headline source | Publisher (no WeSearch rewrite) |
| Excerpt source | publisher body |
| Excerpt method | First ~120 words (~800 chars) of extracted publisher body, fair-use limited. |
| Summary | WeSearch · cerebras-chat (WeSearch summarizer) |
| Summary source text | contentText |
| Citation coverage | Summary is a WeSearch-generated derivative; primary citation is the original publisher URL. |
| Cluster | z5Zj3M1xhDPW · 4 stories |
| Cluster logic | Grouped by semantic title/content similarity across sources within a rolling window. Same-publisher template collisions are excluded from coverage comparison. |
| Ranking reason | Story pages are not engagement-ranked. Hub feeds use recency, with optional source-diversified chronological ordering (cap consecutive stories per source). No personalized ranking. |
| Publisher visit | Yes — open original |
| Substitutes article? | No — link-out required for full text |
Rights status (four layers)
WeSearch handling by dimension
| Indexing | May the item be indexed (stored, ranked, made findable)? | Allowed |
| Snippet | May a short excerpt of the publisher's text be shown? | Allowed |
| AI summary | May WeSearch generate its own short summary of the article? | Limited |
| Retrieval / RAG | May the content be exposed for third-party retrieval-augmented generation? | Not asserted |
| Model training | May the content be used to train AI models? | Not asserted |
| Commercial reuse | May the content be reused commercially? | Not permitted |
Basis: Derived from the published RSS/Atom feed. Contact: [email protected]. Reviewed: 2026-07-24.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
News Unpatched Windows zero-day from 2020 gives hackers full system access Microsoft supposedly patched CVE-2020-17103 in 2020, but a new proof-of-concept exploit shows the vulnerability is still hackable. By Mikael Markander Contributor, PCWorld May 18, 2026 9:20 am PDT Image: LookerStudio / Shutterstock.com Summary created by Smart Answers AIIn summary:PCWorld reports that security researcher Nightmare-Eclipse discovered a critical Windows 11 vulnerability (CVE-2020-17103) that Microsoft supposedly patched in 2020 but remains exploitable.The flaw allows hackers to gain complete system access through the ‘MiniPlasma’ exploit and likely affects all Windows versions despite Microsoft’s previous patch attempts.This unresolved zero-day vulnerability poses significant security risks,…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at PCWorld.
Discussion
0 commentsMore from PCWorld
