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Fencer Intel
high 7.8

CVE-2018-8453 kev+ ransomware in the critical feed json

An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in Windows when the Win32k component fails to properly handle objects in memory, aka "Win32k…

published 8y ago modified 2mo ago also EUVD-2018-20088

cvss
7.8
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Exploited
added 2022-01-21, used in ransomware
epss
70.0%
EPSS 70.0% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 99.3%
public exploits
2
Metasploit and Exploit-DB

Summary

An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in Windows when the Win32k component fails to properly handle objects in memory, aka "Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability." This affects Windows 7, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows RT 8.1, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2012, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 10, Windows 10 Servers.

Patch / fix

cisa required action Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Is CVE-2018-8453 in your stack? Fencer shows which of your repositories are affected as soon as an advisory lands, and opens the fix as a pull request.

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Timeline

  1. Found exploited as a 0-day (Project Zero)
  2. 0-day patched (Project Zero)
  3. First public exploit (Metasploit exploit/windows/local/cve_2018_8453_win32k_priv_esc)
  4. Published
  5. CISA SSVC: exploitation active
  6. Added to CISA KEV
  7. CISA patch deadline

Known exploited

Added
4y ago
Patch by
2022-07-21 (4y ago)
Ransomware
Known to be used in ransomware campaigns
Required action
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Vendor, product
Microsoft, Win32k
CISA name
Microsoft Win32k Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

Zero-day

Detected in real attacks while still unknown to the vendor and the public, per Google Project Zero's 0day In-the-Wild tracker.

Found
2018-08-17
Patched
2018-10-09
Details
project zero tracker

Ransomware

Groups reported to have exploited it in intrusions.

  • REvil ransomware gang

reported by trendmicro.com

Ransomware Vulnerability Matrix by BushidoUK (github.com/BushidoUK/Ransomware-Vulnerability-Matrix), reformatted per CVE. CC BY 4.0

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
Active, exploited in the wild
Automatable
no
Technical impact
total
Assessed
4y ago

Exploit prediction

70.04% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 99.3% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-09).

Exploits and checks

  • Metasploit exploit/windows/local/cve_2018_8453_win32k_priv_esc Windows NtUserSetWindowFNID Win32k User Callback metasploit exploit, manual rank, 2018-10-09
  • EDB-47134 Microsoft Windows - NtUserSetWindowFNID Win32k User Callback Privilege Escalation (Metasploit) local, 2019-07-17
  • securelist.com https://securelist.com/cve-2018-8453-used-in-targeted-attack referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified
  • packetstormsecurity.com http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/153669/Microsoft-Windows-NtUserSetWindowFNID-Win32k-User-Callback.html referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CISA ADP 3.1 7.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD 3.1 7.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CNA 3.1 7.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD 2.0 7.2 AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Affected products

  • Microsoft Windows 7
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2
  • Microsoft Windows RT 8.1
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2008
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2019
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2012
  • Microsoft Windows 8.1
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2016
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2
  • Microsoft Windows 10
  • Microsoft Windows 10 Servers

References

Sources

Fencer Intel keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.