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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 10 Aug 2022.
Windows 10 1507Operating system · Microsoft

CVE-2017-0263

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2017-05-12
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 Public exploit 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
The kernel-mode drivers in Microsoft Windows Server 2008 SP2 and R2 SP1, Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 Gold and R2, Windows RT 8.1, Windows 10 Gold, 1511, 1607, 1703, and Windows Server 2016 allow 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 · moderate confidence

CVE-2017-0263 is an elevation of privilege vulnerability in the Win32k kernel-mode driver (win32k.sys) affecting Windows 7 SP1 through Windows Server 2016. Local authenticated users can exploit this by running a specially crafted application that triggers a flaw in the kernel-mode driver, allowing them to escalate privileges from a standard user account to SYSTEM/kernel-level access.

MitigationApply Microsoft security updates addressing CVE-2017-0263 (originally released in MS17-013) to all affected Windows systems. This is a kernel-level vulnerability requiring OS-level patching; network mitigations alone are insufficient.

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 10 1507Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 10 1511Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 10 1607Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 10 1703Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 7Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 8.1Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows Rt 8.1Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows Server 2008Operating 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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/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 checks

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

  1. Identify Windows version and build
    Run 'winver' or 'systeminfo' from command prompt to get the exact Windows version (e.g., Windows 10 1607) and build number (e.g., 14393).
    Affected if The system runs Windows 10 1507, 1511, 1607, 1703; Windows 7 (any version); Windows 8.1; Windows Rt 8.1; or Windows Server 2008/2008 R2.
  2. Verify security update MS17-017 is installed
    Open Control Panel > Programs and Features > View installed updates, or run 'wmic qfe list' from command prompt, and search for KB4013429 (March 2017 security update containing the fix for CVE-2017-0263).
    Affected if The security update KB4013429 is NOT installed.
  3. Confirm win32k.sys version
    Locate win32k.sys in C:\Windows\System32\drivers\, right-click > Properties > Details to view the file version, or run 'driverquery /v | findstr win32k' to query the loaded driver version.
    Affected if The win32k.sys version is older than the version shipped with MS17-017 (March 14, 2017) for the respective Windows release.
  4. Check for subsequent cumulative updates
    Run 'Get-HotFix | Sort-Object InstalledOn -Descending' in PowerShell to list recent security updates, or check Windows Update history for any cumulative updates installed after March 2017.
    Affected if The system has not received any cumulative security updates since the MS17-017 patch release.

The system is affected if it runs any of the listed affected Windows versions AND lacks the MS17-017 security update (KB4013429) or subsequent cumulative updates that contain the fix for CVE-2017-0263.

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 portal.msrc.microsoft.com →
Interim mitigation

Apply Microsoft security updates addressing CVE-2017-0263 (originally released in MS17-013) to all affected Windows systems. This is a kernel-level vulnerability requiring OS-level patching; network mitigations alone are insufficient.

Recommended fix High confidence

Apply the May 2017 Microsoft security updates (MS17-017) for your specific Windows version. For end-of-life systems (Windows 7, Windows Server 2008), consider upgrading to a supported Windows version as these products have reached end of support.

  1. Locate and apply the Microsoft security update for May 2017 that addresses CVE-2017-0263. This vulnerability was addressed in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS17-017.
  2. For Windows 10 versions 1507, 1511, 1607, and 1703: Apply the corresponding cumulative update from May 2017.
  3. For Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2: Apply security update KB4019263 (May 2017 security rollup) or the individual security update for win32k.sys.
  4. For Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012/2012 R2: Apply security update KB4019213 (May 2017) or the individual win32k.sys update.
  5. For Windows Server 2008 SP2: Apply security update KB4018556 (May 2017) or the applicable update.
  6. For Windows RT 8.1: Apply the update through Windows Update or the applicable KB for May 2017.
  7. After applying the update, restart the affected system to complete the remediation.
  8. Verify the update was successfully installed by checking the installed updates or using the System File Checker (sfc /scannow) to confirm the patched win32k.sys version.
Caveat Applying security updates to kernel-mode drivers may require system restart and could have compatibility implications with third-party software; test in a staging environment before broad deployment.

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

Fix this in Windows 10 1507 Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-0263 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

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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-2017-0263 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