Junglewise Threat Intelligence

CVE-2016-0165: Microsoft Win32k Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

CVE-2016-0165 · Severity: critical · CVSS 7.8 · Exploited in the wild · Published 2023-06-22

Technologies: Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Microsoft Windows Vista, Microsoft Windows 8.1, Microsoft Windows Rt 8.1, Microsoft Windows 10, Microsoft Windows Server 2012, Microsoft Win32K, Microsoft Windows 7. Vendors: Microsoft.

Executive brief

A privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the Windows kernel-mode driver (Win32k) when it fails to properly handle objects in memory. Local attackers can exploit this by running a specially crafted application to gain elevated system privileges.

Affected products

  • Microsoft Windows Vista SP2
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2008 SP2, R2 SP1
  • Microsoft Windows 7 SP1
  • Microsoft Windows 8.1 Gold
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Gold, R2
  • Microsoft Windows RT 8.1 Gold
  • Microsoft Windows 10 Gold, 1511

Timeline

  • 2016-04-12: patched: Microsoft released security bulletin MS16-039 to address this vulnerability.
  • 2023-06-22: kev added: Added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog.

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