SYSTEM escalation via weak certificate mapping
Published May 10, 2022 · Updated Oct 21, 2025
Improper certificate validation in Microsoft Windows allows remote authenticated users to gain SYSTEM privileges through AD CS. The KDC weakly maps certificates by machine name without accounting for a trailing dollar sign, so a controlled computer account can impersonate another machine. Exploitation requires domain credentials, control of a computer account attribute, and AD CS with a suitable enrollment template.
Summary
What happened
Improper certificate validation in Microsoft Windows allows remote authenticated users to gain SYSTEM privileges through AD CS. The KDC weakly maps certificates by machine name without accounting for a trailing dollar sign, so a controlled computer account can impersonate another machine. Exploitation requires domain credentials, control of a computer account attribute, and AD CS with a suitable enrollment template.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-26923
- Published
- May 10, 2022
- Updated
- Oct 21, 2025
- Vendor
- Microsoft
- Product
- Windows 10 Version 1507
- Classifications
- CWE-295, T1068, T1098
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 10, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 18, 2022Exploitation reportedCISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog inclusion
- Oct 21, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=10.0.10240.0 <10.0.10240.19297
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- Metasploit Certifried AD CS privilege-escalation modulefunctional · validated
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Reported exploitation
- CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog inclusionknown exploited catalog
Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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