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Windows 10Operating system · Microsoft

CVE-2016-0088

CRITICAL · 9.3 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-04-12
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
98/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
No privileges Zero-click

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
Hyper-V in Microsoft Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 Gold and R2, and Windows 10 allows guest OS users to execute arbitrary code on the host OS via a crafted application, aka "Hyper-V Remote Code Execution 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

This is a Hyper-V VM escape vulnerability (CVE-2016-0088) affecting Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, and Windows 10. An authenticated guest OS user can execute arbitrary code on the host OS by sending crafted requests through the Hyper-V virtualized hardware interface.

MitigationApply Microsoft security patches MS16-034 or subsequent updates for affected Hyper-V hosts. Prioritize patching in multi-tenant environments where untrusted guests may have access.

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 8.1Operating system
Affected:all versions
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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/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. Confirm Hyper-V role is installed
    Run 'Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName Microsoft-Hyper-V-All' in PowerShell or check Server Manager > Add roles and features for Hyper-V
    Affected if Hyper-V is not installed, the system is not vulnerable to this VM escape
  2. Verify Windows version is affected
    Run 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' to identify the installed Windows version
    Affected if Version is Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, or Windows 10 (all versions)
  3. Check installed security updates
    Run 'Get-HotFix | Where-Object {$_.HotFixID -eq "KB3140743"} ' or view installed updates in Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features > View installed updates for MS16-034 (KB3140743)
    Affected if The specific MS16-034 update (KB3140743) or a subsequent cumulative update is NOT installed

The system is affected if Hyper-V is enabled, the Windows version matches one of the affected products, and the MS16-034 patch (KB3140743) has not been applied.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply Microsoft security patches MS16-034 or subsequent updates for affected Hyper-V hosts. Prioritize patching in multi-tenant environments where untrusted guests may have access.

Fix this in Windows 10 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,160
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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-2016-0088 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