CVE-2016-3309

Microsoft Windows: Kernel Privilege Escalation

As of , CVE-2016-3309 in Microsoft Windows is on CISA's list of exploited vulnerabilities: CISA listed it on . Our patch-first group: Patch this week.

Exploited
Yes: CISA listed it on 15 March 2022
US federal deadline
5 April 202221 days after CISA listed it. US federal civilian agencies must fix it by then.
Used in ransomware campaigns
Known
EPSS score
0.20Higher than 97% of the CVEs EPSS scores. EPSS estimates the chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days.
EPSS when listed
0.02 on 15 March 2022EPSS on the day CISA listed it.
Public exploit
1 Exploit-DB entry
Fix
No vendor link in CISA's entry

What CISA says to do

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

CISA's required action

What the flaw is

A privilege escalation vulnerability exists when the Windows kernel fails to properly handle objects in memory. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could run arbitrary code in kernel mode.

CISA's description

The kernel-mode drivers in Microsoft Windows Vista SP2; Windows Server 2008 SP2 and R2 SP1; Windows 7 SP1; Windows 8.1; Windows Server 2012 Gold and R2; Windows RT 8.1; and Windows 10 Gold, 1511, and 1607 allow local users to gain privileges via a crafted application, aka "Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability," a different vulnerability than CVE-2016-3308, CVE-2016-3310, and CVE-2016-3311.

The CVE record's description, from microsoft

CVE published
9 August 2016
Assigned by
microsoft
CVSS
7.8 High (CVSS 3.1, from CISA-ADP)
CWE-264
Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls
CISA SSVC, exploitation
active
CISA SSVC, automatable
no
CISA SSVC, technical impact
total

Timeline

  1. The CVE record was published.
  2. Exploit-DB published an exploit (EDB-ID 42960).
  3. CISA added it to its list of exploited vulnerabilities.
  4. The US federal deadline to fix it.

Public exploits

Facts from Metasploit's module list and Exploit-DB's index; we never copy exploit code.

Windows: other exploited entries

VulnerabilityProductOur groupListedDeadlineEPSS
CVE-2025-60710Link FollowingMicrosoft WindowsPatch nowRansomware use, listed within a year0.05
CVE-2008-4250Buffer OverflowMicrosoft WindowsPatch this weekMetasploit module; EPSS 0.99; verified Exploit-DB entry0.99
CVE-2008-0015Video ActiveX Control Remote Code ExecutionMicrosoft WindowsPatch this weekMetasploit module; EPSS 0.77; verified Exploit-DB entry0.77
CVE-2013-3918Out-of-Bounds WriteMicrosoft WindowsPatch this weekMetasploit module; EPSS 0.74; verified Exploit-DB entry0.74
CVE-2010-2568Remote Code ExecutionMicrosoft WindowsPatch this weekMetasploit module; EPSS 0.91; verified Exploit-DB entry0.91
CVE-2015-0016TS WebProxy Directory TraversalMicrosoft WindowsPatch this weekMetasploit module; EPSS 0.76; verified Exploit-DB entry0.76
CVE-2015-2426Adobe Type Manager Library Remote Code ExecutionMicrosoft WindowsPatch this weekMetasploit module; EPSS 0.87; verified Exploit-DB entry0.87
CVE-2014-6332Object Linking & Embedding (OLE) Automation Array Remote Code ExecutionMicrosoft WindowsPatch this weekMetasploit module; EPSS 0.95; verified Exploit-DB entry0.95
CVE-2017-0146SMB Remote Code ExecutionMicrosoft WindowsPatch this weekRansomware use; Metasploit module; EPSS 0.90; verified Exploit-DB entry0.90
CVE-2014-4114Object Linking & Embedding (OLE) Remote Code ExecutionMicrosoft WindowsPatch this weekMetasploit module; EPSS 0.82; verified Exploit-DB entry0.82

All 174 entries for Windows

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