Local privilege escalation via registry notification use-after-free
Published Dec 13, 2022 · Updated Jul 22, 2025
Use-after-free in Windows kernel registry handling allows local users on affected Windows releases to elevate privileges through crafted notifications. NtNotifyChangeMultipleKeys mishandles predefined registry-key objects, leaving a stale reference that the kernel accesses after the object is freed. A low-privileged local account with registry-notification access can trigger kernel memory corruption and obtain elevated control; remote reachability is not reported.
Summary
What happened
Use-after-free in Windows kernel registry handling allows local users on affected Windows releases to elevate privileges through crafted notifications. NtNotifyChangeMultipleKeys mishandles predefined registry-key objects, leaving a stale reference that the kernel accesses after the object is freed. A low-privileged local account with registry-notification access can trigger kernel memory corruption and obtain elevated control; remote reachability is not reported.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-44683
- Published
- Dec 13, 2022
- Updated
- Jul 22, 2025
- Vendor
- Microsoft
- Product
- Windows 10 Version 1507
- Classifications
- CWE-416, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Dec 13, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jul 22, 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?
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- Affected versionversion=10.0.10240.0 <10.0.10240.19624
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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