Description of the security update for the information disclosure vulnerability in Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 Update 3: July 9, 2019

Applies to: All Visual Studio 2015 Update 3 SKUs except for Isolated and Integrated Shells and Build Tools

NoticeIn November 2020, the content of this article was updated to clarify the affected products, prerequisites, and restart requirements. Additionally, the update metadata in WSUS was revised to fix a Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager reporting bug.

Summary

An information disclosure vulnerability exists when Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 incorrectly parses XML input in certain settings files.To learn more about the vulnerability, go to CVE-2019-1079.

How to obtain and install the update

Method 1: Microsoft Download

The following file is available for download:

Download the hotfix package now.

Method 2: Microsoft Update Catalog

To get the standalone package for this update, go to the Microsoft Update Catalog website.

More information

Prerequisites

To apply this security update, you must have both Visual Studio 2015 Update 3 and the subsequent Cumulative Servicing Release KB 3165756 installed. Typically, KB 3165756 is installed automatically when you install Visual Studio 2015 Update 3. However, in some cases, you have to install the two packages separately.

Restart requirement

We recommend that you close Visual Studio 2015 before you install this security update. Otherwise, you may have to restart the computer after you apply this security update if a file that is being updated is open or in use by Visual Studio.

Security update replacement information

This security update doesn’t replace other security updates.

File hash information

File name	SHA1 hash	SHA256 hash
vs14-kb4506164.exe	3D8FCF805756BE2CA9E8E36EA60E85F1CBBFA58A	2945C671E0A57F993DE67C80A612EE3E7F4EB850F1EB2AF60926D9DADF78F6B7

Installation verification

To verify that this security update was applied correctly, follow these steps:

1. Open the Visual Studio 2015 folder.
2. Locate the Microsoft.VisualStudio.QualityTools.Common.dll file.
3. Verify that the file version is 14.0.27536.

Information about protection, security, and support

• Protect yourself online: Windows Security support

• Learn how we guard against cyber threats: Microsoft Security

• Obtain localized support per your country: International Support

• Get more information about the Visual Studio support policy: Visual Studio Product Lifecycle and Servicing.