Junglewise Threat Intelligence

CVE-2018-8453: Microsoft Win32k Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

CVE-2018-8453 · Severity: critical · CVSS 7.8 · Exploited in the wild · Published 2022-01-21

Technologies: Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2, Microsoft Windows Server 2012, Microsoft Windows 8.1, Microsoft Windows 10, Microsoft Windows Server 2019, Microsoft Windows Server 2016, Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Win32K, Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2, Microsoft Windows Rt 8.1. Vendors: Microsoft.

Executive brief

An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in the Windows Win32k component due to improper handling of objects in memory. A local attacker could exploit this to gain elevated privileges on a targeted system. The vulnerability has been observed being used in targeted attacks in the wild.

Affected products

  • Microsoft Windows 7
  • Microsoft Windows 8.1
  • Microsoft Windows RT 8.1
  • Microsoft Windows 10
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2008
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2012
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2016
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2019
  • Microsoft Windows Server 1709
  • Microsoft Windows Server 1803

Timeline

  • 2018-10-09: patched: MSRC advisory published and patch released.
  • 2022-01-21: kev added: Added to CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog.
  • 2022-01-21: disclosed: NVD publication date.

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