CVE-2013-3866
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedwin32k.sys in the kernel-mode drivers in Microsoft Windows XP SP2 and SP3, Windows Server 2003 SP2, Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 SP2 and R2 SP1, Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8, Windows Server 2012, and Windows RT allows local users to gain privileges via a crafted application, aka "Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability."
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceA local privilege escalation vulnerability exists in win32k.sys, the Windows kernel-mode driver responsible for window management and graphics operations. Attackers with local access can execute a specially crafted application to elevate from unprivileged user to administrative/system privileges by exploiting improper validation in the kernel-mode driver.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE dataall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsCVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify your Windows versionRun 'winver' or check System Properties to determine the exact Windows version and build numberAffected if The version is Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows RT, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, or Windows Server 2012 (any build)
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Check win32k.sys file versionNavigate to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\win32k.sys, right-click, select Properties, and note the File Version fieldAffected if The file version is earlier than the patched version for your specific Windows release (you must compare against Microsoft's patched version for MS13-053)
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Verify MS13-053 patch installationOpen Control Panel > Programs and Features > View installed updates, or run 'wmic qfe list' command, and search for update KB2850851Affected if The security update KB2850851 is NOT installed on the system
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Confirm the vulnerability trigger conditionThis flaw requires a specially crafted application to be executed by a local user with non-administrative privilegesAffected if Untrusted local users can execute arbitrary applications on the system (the exploitability depends on having the ability to run the specially crafted code)
Your system is likely affected if it runs any Windows version from XP through Server 2012 AND lacks the KB2850851 security update, meaning win32k.sys has not been patched to address this privilege escalation flaw.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataApply Microsoft security update MS13-053 (or subsequent cumulative updates) to patch the vulnerable win32k.sys driver. For systems where patching is not feasible, restrict local user permissions and implement application whitelisting to prevent execution of untrusted applications.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2013-3866 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2013-3866 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data