CVE-2016-7271
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 · uneditedThe Secure Kernel Mode implementation in Microsoft Windows 10 Gold, 1511, and 1607 and Windows Server 2016 allows local users to bypass the virtual trust level (VTL) protection mechanism via a crafted application, aka "Secure Kernel Mode 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 confidenceThis is a local privilege escalation vulnerability in Microsoft's Secure Kernel Mode implementation found in Windows 10 (Gold, 1511, and 1607) and Windows Server 2016. The vulnerability allows a local attacker with the ability to execute a crafted application to bypass the Virtual Trust Level (VTL) protection mechanism, gaining elevated privileges.
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 versions= 1511= 1607all 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
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Windows versionRun 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' to determine if the system is Windows 10 or Windows Server 2016Affected if The system is running Windows 10 (any version including 1511 or 1607) or Windows Server 2016 (any version)
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Check if MS16-145 security update is installedRun 'wmic qfe get hotfixid,installedon | findstr /i "KB3206632"' or check Windows Update history for security update KB3206632 (the update that addresses CVE-2016-7271)Affected if The security update KB3206632 (MS16-145) is NOT installed on the system
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Verify Secure Kernel Mode statusThis vulnerability affects the Secure Kernel Mode component. On affected Windows 10/Server 2016 systems, the vulnerability exists in the securekernel.exe binary. Check the file version of %SystemRoot%\System32\securekernel.exe if presentAffected if The system is Windows 10/Server 2016 and the securekernel.exe binary has not been patched (version prior to the MS16-145 update)
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Confirm VTL (Virtual Trust Level) protection contextThe vulnerability allows bypassing VTL0/VTL1 separation. Verify the system has Virtualization-Based Security (VBS) or Credential Guard features enabled by running 'msinfo32' and checking 'Virtualization-based security' statusAffected if VBS or Credential Guard is enabled on an unpatched Windows 10/Server 2016 system, making exploitation possible
The system is affected if it runs Windows 10 or Windows 2016 and the security update KB3206632 (MS16-145) has not been installed.
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 the Microsoft security update MS16-145 (released December 2016) which addresses this Secure Kernel Mode elevation of privilege vulnerability. Organizations should prioritize patching affected systems as this is a local privilege escalation with high CVSS score.
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- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-7271 — 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-2016-7271 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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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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