Local privilege escalation via use-after-free
Published Feb 11, 2025 · Updated Feb 26, 2026
Use-after-free in the Windows Win32 kernel subsystem allows local users with low privileges to gain SYSTEM privileges. Microsoft identifies the memory-lifetime error but has not disclosed the affected object, routine, or operation that accesses freed memory. Exploitation requires local low-privilege access and can elevate code to SYSTEM, while the public record provides no safe behavioral probe.
Summary
What happened
Use-after-free in the Windows Win32 kernel subsystem allows local users with low privileges to gain SYSTEM privileges. Microsoft identifies the memory-lifetime error but has not disclosed the affected object, routine, or operation that accesses freed memory. Exploitation requires local low-privilege access and can elevate code to SYSTEM, while the public record provides no safe behavioral probe.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-21367
- Published
- Feb 11, 2025
- Updated
- Feb 26, 2026
- Vendor
- Microsoft
- Product
- Windows Server 2019
- Classifications
- CWE-416, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Feb 11, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Feb 26, 2026Record 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.
- Affected versionversion=10.0.17763.0 <10.0.17763.6893
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.
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