CVE-2022-38016

SYSTEM privilege escalation through undisclosed LSA flaw

Published Oct 11, 2022 · Updated Jan 2, 2025

Local privilege escalation in Microsoft Windows LSA allows local users with low privileges to gain SYSTEM privileges. Microsoft has not published the affected LSA code path or the incorrect operation that enables the elevation. Exploitation requires local low-privileged access, and success crosses the security boundary to full SYSTEM control.

CVSS severity8.8
High
EPSS probability0.49%
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

Local privilege escalation in Microsoft Windows LSA allows local users with low privileges to gain SYSTEM privileges. Microsoft has not published the affected LSA code path or the incorrect operation that enables the elevation. Exploitation requires local low-privileged access, and success crosses the security boundary to full SYSTEM control.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-38016
Published
Oct 11, 2022
Updated
Jan 2, 2025
Vendor
Microsoft
Product
Windows Server 2019
Classifications
T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Oct 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=10.0.17763.0 <10.0.17763.3532

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Microsoft · Windows Server 2019version=10.0.17763.0 <10.0.17763.3532
Microsoft · Windows 10 Version 21H1version=10.0.0 <10.0.19043.2130
Microsoft · Windows 11 version 21H2version=10.0.0 <10.0.22000.1098
Microsoft · Windows 10 Version 21H2version=10.0.19043.0 <10.0.19044.2130
Microsoft · Windows 10 Version 20H2version=10.0.0 <10.0.19042.2130
Microsoft · Windows Server 2019 (Server Core installation)version=10.0.17763.0 <10.0.17763.3532
Microsoft · Windows 11, version 22H2version=10.0.22621.0 <10.0.22621.674
Microsoft · Windows Server 2022version=10.0.20348.0 <10.0.20348.1129
Microsoft · Windows 10 Version 1809version=10.0.0 <10.0.17763.3532; version=10.0.17763.0 <10.0.17763.3532

Published CVSS scores

8.8Microsoft CorporationCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/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