CVE-2022-21887

Local privilege escalation through undisclosed Win32k flaw

Published Jan 11, 2022 · Updated Jan 2, 2025

Elevation of privilege in Win32k in Microsoft Windows 11 version 21H2 before 10.0.22000.434 allows local users to gain elevated rights. Microsoft has not published the affected Win32k function, the input that reaches it, or the incorrect operation responsible for the privilege boundary failure. Exploitation requires existing low-privileged local access, needs no user interaction, and can compromise confidentiality, integrity, and availability under elevated privileges.

CVSS severity7.0
High
EPSS probability1.09%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

Summary

What happened

Elevation of privilege in Win32k in Microsoft Windows 11 version 21H2 before 10.0.22000.434 allows local users to gain elevated rights. Microsoft has not published the affected Win32k function, the input that reaches it, or the incorrect operation responsible for the privilege boundary failure. Exploitation requires existing low-privileged local access, needs no user interaction, and can compromise confidentiality, integrity, and availability under elevated privileges.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-21887
Published
Jan 11, 2022
Updated
Jan 2, 2025
Vendor
Microsoft
Product
Windows 11 version 21H2
Classifications
T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jan 11, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jan 2, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=10.0.0 <10.0.22000.434

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Microsoft · Windows 11 version 21H2version=10.0.0 <10.0.22000.434

Published CVSS scores

7.0Microsoft CorporationCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
7.8National Institute of Standards and TechnologyCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

See the directory against your own environment.

Your stack

Check the software in your environment

Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.

Book a demo