Exploited· due 2022-04-058.2highHighused in ransomware

CVE-2015-2546

Microsoft Windows 10 1507

The kernel-mode driver in Microsoft Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 SP2 and R2 SP1, Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 Gold and R2, Windows RT Gold and 8.1, and Windows 10 allows local users to gain privileges via a crafted application, aka "Win32k Memory Corruption Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability," a different vulnerability than CVE-2015-2511, CVE-2015-2517, and CVE-2015-2518.

Exploitation status

  • CISA has confirmed this is being exploited in the wild. That is an observation of real attacks, not a prediction.
  • It is known to have been used in ransomware campaigns.
  • US federal civilian agencies are required to remediate it by 2022-04-05. That deadline does not bind private companies, but it is a reasonable benchmark for how urgently CISA views it.
  • A vendor advisory or patch reference has been published.

Required action

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

CISA’s wording, unedited.

What the metrics mean

  • It is requires local access to the machine.
  • For an attacker who can reach it, no special conditions are needed to exploit it.
  • To exploit it, an ordinary user account is needed.
  • Beyond that, someone has to be persuaded to take an action first.

Scoring

CVSS
8.2 (v3.1)
Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness
CWE-119
Assigned by
secure@microsoft.com

Dates

Published
2015-09-09
Last modified
2026-08-14
Added to KEV
2022-03-15
Remediation due
2022-04-05
Sources
CISA KEV, NVD

Affected products

  • Microsoft Windows 10 1507all versions
  • Microsoft Windows 7all versions
  • Microsoft Windows 8all versions
  • Microsoft Windows 8.1all versions
  • Microsoft Windows Rtall versions
  • Microsoft Windows Rt 8.1all versions
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2008all versions, r2
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2012all versions, r2
  • Microsoft Windows Vistaall versions

As listed in the NVD configuration data. Not a statement about your estate.

References