Privilege escalation in Windows kernel

1) Race condition

EUVDB-ID: #VU16457

Risk: Medium

CVSSv4.0: 8.5 [CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:A/U:Green]

CVE-ID: CVE-2018-8611

CWE-ID: CWE-362 - Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition')

Exploit availability: No

Description

The vulnerability allows a local user to execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges.

The vulnerability exists due to a race condition within the Kernel Transaction Manager driver (ntoskrnl.exe) when processing transacted file operations in kernel mode. A local user can create a specially program, and run arbitrary code on the system n kernel mode.

Note: the vulnerability is being exploited in the wild.

Mitigation

Install updates from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

Windows: 7 - 10 1809 10.0.17763.1

Windows Server: 2008 - 2019 1803

CPE2.3

• cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows:8.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows:8.1_RT:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows:10_1607:10.0.14393.10:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows:10_1703:10.0.15063.138:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows:10_1709:10.0.16299.19:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
• cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server:2008_R2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

External links

https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2018-8611

Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

No. This vulnerability can be exploited locally. The attacker should have authentication credentials and successfully authenticate on the system.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

Yes. This vulnerability is being exploited in the wild.