Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

1) Privilege escalation

EUVDB-ID: #VU5060

Risk: Medium

CVSSv4.0: 8.5 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:A/U:Green]

CVE-ID: CVE-2016-0165

CWE-ID: CWE-264 - Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls

Exploit availability: No

Description

The vulnerability allows a local attacker to gain elevated privileges on the target system.

The vulnerability exists due to improper handling of objects in memory by the kernel-mode driver. A local attacker can run a specially crafted program, gain elevated privileges and execute arbitrary code with SYSTEM privileges.

Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may result in arbitrary code execution on the vulnerable system.

Note: the vulnerability was being actively exploited.

Mitigation

Install updates from Microsoft website.

Vulnerable software versions

Windows: Vista - 10

Windows Server: 2008 R2 - 2012

CPE2.3

• cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows:Vista:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows:8.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

External links

https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2016-0165

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

No. This vulnerability can be exploited locally. The attacker should have authentication credentials and successfully authenticate on the system.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

Yes. This vulnerability is being exploited in the wild.