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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 15 Jun 2022.
Windows 10Operating system · Microsoft

CVE-2015-1769

MEDIUM · 6.6 CVSS v3.1 Published 2015-08-15
Patch available
A vendor patch is available. No clean upgrade release — apply the published patch.
See remediation →
96/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild Zero-click Patch available

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 · unedited
Mount Manager 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 mishandles symlinks, which allows physically proximate attackers to execute arbitrary code by connecting a crafted USB device, aka "Mount Manager 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 confidence

The Windows Mount Manager fails to properly validate symbolic links when processing USB device connections. A physically proximate attacker with a crafted USB device can exploit this symlink mishandling to execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges, achieving local elevation of privilege.

MitigationApply Microsoft security update MS15-054 to affected Windows versions; restrict physical access to critical systems and consider disabling autorun for USB devices as defense-in-depth.

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 data
Windows 10Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 7Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 8Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 8.1Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows RtOperating system
Affected:all versions
Windows Rt 8.1Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows Server 2008Operating system
Affected:all versions= r2
Windows Server 2012Operating system
Affected:all versions= r2

CVSS 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
Physical
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify Windows version
    Run 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' from command prompt
    Affected if The version displayed is any of: Windows 7 (all), Windows 8 (all), Windows 8.1 (all), Windows 10 (all), Windows Rt (all), Windows Rt 8.1 (all), Windows Server 2008 (all/r2), Windows Server 2012 (all/r2)
  2. Verify MS15-054 installation
    Run 'wmic qfe list | findstr KB3061512' or check Windows Update history for security update KB3061512
    Affected if The command returns no output, meaning KB3061512 is not installed and the system is unpatched
  3. Check Mount Manager service
    Run 'sc query mmdevapi' or check Services.msc for Mount Manager service status
    Affected if The service exists and is running (the vulnerability applies when the Mount Manager processes USB device connections)
  4. Confirm USB device detection works
    Connect a USB device and verify the system detects it via 'devmgmt.msc' or 'diskpart list volume'
    Affected if USB devices are detected and mounted (the attack vector requires USB device connection processing by the Mount Manager)

The system is affected if it runs any affected Windows version listed and is missing the KB3061512 (MS15-054) security update, allowing a physically proximate attacker with a crafted USB device to elevate privileges.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Patch available Apply the vendor patch
Vendor patch docs.microsoft.com →
Interim mitigation

Apply Microsoft security update MS15-054 to affected Windows versions; restrict physical access to critical systems and consider disabling autorun for USB devices as defense-in-depth.

Recommended fix High confidence

For end-of-life systems: upgrade to Windows 10 (version 1607 or later) or Windows 11, or Windows Server 2016/2019/2022

  1. Apply the Microsoft security update KB3087038 (part of MS15-121) which addresses this Mount Manager vulnerability
  2. If the system is Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2008 R2, or Windows Server 2012 R2, ensure Windows Update is enabled and check for the July 2015 security updates
  3. For Windows RT and Windows RT 8.1 devices, apply the update through Windows Update or the specific KB3087038 update
  4. After applying the update, verify the update is listed in Programs and Features as successfully installed
  5. Note: Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 8 (non-R2), and Windows 10 (pre-Threshold 2) have reached end of support; for these systems, upgrade to a supported Windows version as patches may not be available
Caveat KB3087038 requires July 2015 servicing stack update; some legacy applications may have compatibility issues on post-update systems

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Windows 10 Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,780
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Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2015-1769 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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