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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 18 Apr 2022.
Windows 7Operating system · Microsoft

CVE-2016-0040

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2016-02-10
Patch available
A vendor patch is available. No clean upgrade release — apply the published patch.
See remediation →
97/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild Public exploit No privileges 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
The kernel in Microsoft Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 SP2 and R2 SP1, and Windows 7 SP1 allows local users to gain privileges via a crafted application, aka "Windows 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

Kernel-level privilege escalation vulnerability in Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 SP2/R2 SP1, and Windows 7 SP1. Allows a local authenticated user to execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges by running a specially crafted application.

MitigationApply Microsoft security update KB3124286 (MS16-014) to patch the kernel vulnerability. As an interim control, restrict local user permissions and monitor for suspicious executable activity.

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 7Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows Server 2008Operating system
Affected:all versions= r2
Windows VistaOperating system
Affected:all versions

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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
    Open Command Prompt and run 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"'
    Affected if The system is running Windows Vista (any SP), Windows Server 2008 (any version including R2), or Windows 7 (any version)
  2. Confirm Windows 7 edition
    Run 'winver' or check System Properties to see if it is Windows 7 SP1
    Affected if The system is Windows 7 SP1 without any updates applied
  3. Verify patch MS16-014 is installed
    Open Control Panel > Programs and Features > View installed updates, or run 'wmic qfe list' and search for 'KB3139914' (Windows 7) or 'KB3134225' (Server 2008/Vista)
    Affected if The relevant security update for this CVE is NOT listed in installed updates
  4. Check for missing security updates
    Run 'systeminfo' and look at the 'Hotfix(s)' section, or use Windows Update to check for pending security updates
    Affected if The system shows no recent security hotfixs or has not been updated since the MS16-014 release date (February 2016)
  5. Verify vulnerability status
    Review the installed updates against Microsoft Security Bulletin MS16-014 at https://technet.microsoft.com/library/security/ms16-014
    Affected if The specific KB update for your Windows version (KB3139914, KB3134225, or KB3136041) is not present

A system is affected if it runs Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008/R2, or Windows 7 and does not have the MS16-014 security update (KB3139914, KB3134225, or KB3136041) installed.

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 KB3124286 (MS16-014) to patch the kernel vulnerability. As an interim control, restrict local user permissions and monitor for suspicious executable activity.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

For long-term security, migrate to supported Windows versions: Windows 7 to Windows 10/11, Windows Server 2008 to Windows Server 2019/2022, Windows Vista to Windows 10 (note: Vista is end-of-life and must be replaced)

  1. Obtain Microsoft Security Bulletin MS16-014 from the Microsoft Update Catalog or your organization's WSUS server
  2. Apply the security update corresponding to CVE-2016-0040 for your specific Windows version (KB3136082 for Windows 7, KB3136081 for Windows Server 2008, KB3136083 for Windows Vista)
  3. Restart the affected system after applying the patch
  4. Verify the patch was successfully installed by checking Windows Update history or using the 'Get-HotFix' PowerShell cmdlet
Caveat Windows 7, Server 2008, and Vista are all past end-of-support; applying the MS16-014 patch provides immediate security but continued use of these operating systems carries ongoing risk without extended security updates

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

Fix this in Windows 7 Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.

Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2016-0040 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