Exploited· due 2022-04-057.0highHighused in ransomware

CVE-2018-8120

Microsoft Windows 7

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 Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2. This CVE ID is unique from CVE-2018-8124, CVE-2018-8164, CVE-2018-8166.

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, exploitation depends on conditions outside the attacker's control.
  • To exploit it, an ordinary user account is needed.
  • Beyond that, no action by a user is required.

Scoring

CVSS
7.0 (v3.1)
Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Weakness
CWE-404
Assigned by
secure@microsoft.com

Dates

Published
2018-05-09
Last modified
2026-08-13
Added to KEV
2022-03-15
Remediation due
2022-04-05
Sources
CISA KEV, NVD

Affected products

  • Microsoft Windows 7all versions
  • Microsoft Windows Server 2008all versions, r2

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

References