CVE-2016-7255

CVE-2016-7255 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.8) vulnerability in Microsoft Win32k. CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on November 3, 2021, which means exploitation in the wild has been confirmed; US federal agencies had to remediate it by May 3, 2022. CISA also lists it as known to be used in ransomware campaigns, so it should be prioritised accordingly. Microsoft has 390 vulnerabilities in the KEV catalog, 117 of them linked to ransomware.

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, Windows 10 Gold, 1511, and 1607, and Windows Server 2016 allow local users to gain privileges via a crafted application, aka "Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability."

CVSS vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

• http://blog.trendmicro.com/trendlabs-security-intelligence/one-bit-rule-system-analyzing-cve-2016-7255-exploit-wild/
• http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/140468/Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-win32k.sys-NtSetWindowLongPtr-Privilege-Escalation.html
• http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/94064
• http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1037251
• https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2016/ms16-135
• https://github.com/mwrlabs/CVE-2016-7255
• https://securingtomorrow.mcafee.com/mcafee-labs/digging-windows-kernel-privilege-escalation-vulnerability-cve-2016-7255/
• https://security.googleblog.com/2016/10/disclosing-vulnerabilities-to-protect.html