Local privilege escalation via BCrypt use-after-free
Published Aug 9, 2022 · Updated Jun 4, 2025
Windows Defender Credential Guard in Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1809 allows local users to elevate privileges via a use-after-free. The BCrypt context handling path can reuse an object after it has been freed, enabling a low-privileged local process to obtain higher privileges. Exploitation requires local access and no user interaction; successful exploitation can compromise confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Summary
What happened
Windows Defender Credential Guard in Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1809 allows local users to elevate privileges via a use-after-free. The BCrypt context handling path can reuse an object after it has been freed, enabling a low-privileged local process to obtain higher privileges. Exploitation requires local access and no user interaction; successful exploitation can compromise confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-34705
- Published
- Aug 9, 2022
- Updated
- Jun 4, 2025
- Vendor
- Microsoft
- Product
- Windows Server 2019
- Classifications
- CWE-416, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 9, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jun 4, 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=10.0.17763.0 <10.0.17763.3287
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
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.
Public exploit references
- Windows Credential Guard BCrypt Context Use-After-Free Privilege Escalationproof of concept · unverified
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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