CVE-2018-8440
Microsoft Windows Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
Does this matter?
Known to be exploited in the wild (CISA KEV, CISA remediation deadline 18 April 2022). Treat as an emergency change: patch or isolate now, then hunt for prior compromise.
Description
An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when Windows improperly handles calls to Advanced Local Procedure Call (ALPC), aka "Windows ALPC Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability." This affects Windows 7, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows RT 8.1, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2012, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 10, Windows 10 Servers.
- CVSS 3.1
- 7.8 HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- EPSS
- 18.53% probability · 97th percentile
- Public exploits
- None in Exploit-DB
- CISA KEV
- Listed 28 March 2022 · due 18 April 2022 · used in ransomware campaigns
- Affected
- microsoft/windows 10 1607 · microsoft/windows 10 1703 · microsoft/windows 10 1709 · microsoft/windows 10 1803 · microsoft/windows 7 · microsoft/windows 8.1 · microsoft/windows rt 8.1 · microsoft/windows server 2008 · microsoft/windows server 2012 · microsoft/windows server 2016
- Source
- secure@microsoft.com
EPSS 18.5% since 28 October 2026; no change recorded yet. The dashed line is the ten per cent mark our analysts treat as “patch before the next change window”. Points are recorded when the score first appears and whenever it moves by a percentage point or more.
CISA notes
Apply updates per vendor instructions. https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-8440
References
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/105153Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1041578Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://blog.0patch.com/2018/08/how-we-micropatched-publicly-dropped.htmlExploit, Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://blog.0patch.com/2018/09/comparing-our-micropatch-with.htmlThird Party Advisory
- https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2018-8440Patch, Vendor Advisory
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/105153Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1041578Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://blog.0patch.com/2018/08/how-we-micropatched-publicly-dropped.htmlExploit, Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://blog.0patch.com/2018/09/comparing-our-micropatch-with.htmlThird Party Advisory
- https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2018-8440Patch, Vendor Advisory
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2018-8440US Government Resource
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA, exploits from Exploit-DB. Refreshed daily. Download this record as JSON.