SYSTEM privilege escalation via Win32k use-after-free
Published Jul 11, 2023 · Updated Jan 1, 2025
Use-after-free in Microsoft Windows Win32k allows local users with low privileges to gain SYSTEM privileges through local execution. Microsoft has not disclosed the affected Win32k object or the specific lifetime-management operation that leaves a stale reference after the object is freed. Exploitation requires prior local code execution under a low-privileged account and grants complete control of the host as SYSTEM.
Summary
What happened
Use-after-free in Microsoft Windows Win32k allows local users with low privileges to gain SYSTEM privileges through local execution. Microsoft has not disclosed the affected Win32k object or the specific lifetime-management operation that leaves a stale reference after the object is freed. Exploitation requires prior local code execution under a low-privileged account and grants complete control of the host as SYSTEM.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-21756
- Published
- Jul 11, 2023
- Updated
- Jan 1, 2025
- Vendor
- Microsoft
- Product
- Windows 10 Version 1507
- Classifications
- CWE-416, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jul 11, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Jan 1, 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 <10.0.10240.20048
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.
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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