CVE-2018-8589

Microsoft Win32k: Privilege Escalation

As of , CVE-2018-8589 in Microsoft Win32k is on CISA's list of exploited vulnerabilities: CISA listed it on . Our patch-first group: Patch soon.

Exploited
Yes: CISA listed it on 23 May 2022
US federal deadline
13 June 202221 days after CISA listed it. US federal civilian agencies must fix it by then.
Used in ransomware campaigns
Not known to CISA
EPSS score
0.03Higher than 87% of the CVEs EPSS scores. EPSS estimates the chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days.
EPSS when listed
0.01 on 23 May 2022EPSS on the day CISA listed it.
Public exploit
None foundNeither Metasploit nor Exploit-DB lists one.
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 Windows improperly handles calls to Win32k.sys. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could run remote code in the security context of the local system.

CISA's description

An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when Windows improperly handles calls to Win32k.sys, aka "Windows Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability." This affects Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2.

The CVE record's description, from microsoft

CVE published
14 November 2018
Assigned by
microsoft
CVSS
7.8 High (CVSS 3.1, from CISA-ADP)
CISA SSVC, exploitation
active
CISA SSVC, automatable
no
CISA SSVC, technical impact
total

Timeline

  1. The CVE record was published.
  2. CISA added it to its list of exploited vulnerabilities.
  3. The US federal deadline to fix it.

Win32k: other exploited entries

VulnerabilityProductOur groupListedDeadlineEPSS
CVE-2014-4113Privilege EscalationMicrosoft Win32kPatch this weekMetasploit module; EPSS 0.87; verified Exploit-DB entry0.87
CVE-2018-8120Privilege EscalationMicrosoft Win32kPatch this weekRansomware use; Metasploit module; EPSS 0.73; verified Exploit-DB entry0.73
CVE-2015-1701Privilege EscalationMicrosoft Win32kPatch this weekRansomware use; Metasploit module; EPSS 0.56; verified Exploit-DB entry0.56
CVE-2018-8453Privilege EscalationMicrosoft Win32kPatch this weekRansomware use; Metasploit module; EPSS 0.70; verified Exploit-DB entry0.70
CVE-2013-3660Privilege EscalationMicrosoft Win32kPatch this weekMetasploit module; verified Exploit-DB entry0.39
CVE-2022-21882Privilege EscalationMicrosoft Win32kPatch this weekRansomware use; Metasploit module; EPSS 0.590.59
CVE-2019-1458Privilege EscalationMicrosoft Win32kPatch this weekRansomware use; Metasploit module; EPSS 0.740.74
CVE-2021-1732Privilege EscalationMicrosoft Win32kPatch this weekRansomware use; Metasploit module; EPSS 0.780.78
CVE-2019-0808Privilege EscalationMicrosoft Win32kPatch this weekMetasploit module; EPSS 0.530.53
CVE-2020-1054Privilege EscalationMicrosoft Win32kPatch this weekMetasploit module; EPSS 0.540.54

All 25 entries for Win32k

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