SYSTEM privilege escalation via transactional registry rename
Published Mar 14, 2023 · Updated Jan 1, 2025
Use-after-free in the Windows Kernel registry on affected Microsoft Windows releases allows local users to gain SYSTEM privileges. Transactional key rename and deletion can leave a freed subkey cell referenced from its parent list, allowing attacker-controlled hive data to replace it. A low-privileged user needs local code execution and write access to a registry hive; successful exploitation yields arbitrary kernel read/write access and SYSTEM privileges.
Summary
What happened
Use-after-free in the Windows Kernel registry on affected Microsoft Windows releases allows local users to gain SYSTEM privileges. Transactional key rename and deletion can leave a freed subkey cell referenced from its parent list, allowing attacker-controlled hive data to replace it. A low-privileged user needs local code execution and write access to a registry hive; successful exploitation yields arbitrary kernel read/write access and SYSTEM privileges.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-23420
- Published
- Mar 14, 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
- Mar 14, 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 <10.0.10240.19805
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
- Windows Registry Adventure CVE-2023-23420 exploitfunctional · demonstrated
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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