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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 5 Apr 2022. Known ransomware use
Windows 7Operating system · Microsoft

CVE-2018-8120

HIGH · 7.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2018-05-09
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 Ransomware High EPSS 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
An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in Windows when the Win32k component fails to properly handle objects in memory, aka "Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability." This affects Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2. This CVE ID is unique from CVE-2018-8124, CVE-2018-8164, CVE-2018-8166.

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

CVE-2018-8120 is a local elevation of privilege vulnerability in the Windows Win32k kernel component that fails to properly handle objects in memory, allowing an authenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges.

MitigationApply the Microsoft security update (KB4132648) to all affected systems. For end-of-life systems unable to receive patches, restrict local user privileges and deploy additional exploit mitigation protections such as Windows Defender Exploit Guard.

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

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
High
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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. Check Windows version
    Run 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' to identify the installed Windows edition and version
    Affected if The version is Windows 7 (any build) or Windows Server 2008/2008 R2 (any build)
  2. Verify patch KB4132648 installation
    Run 'wmic qfe list | findstr KB4132648' or check Windows Update history for the presence of security update KB4132648
    Affected if The patch KB4132648 is NOT installed or not visible in the update history
  3. Check Win32k.sys version
    Locate Win32k.sys in C:\Windows\System32\ and view its File Version property, or run 'dir /a C:\Windows\System32\win32k.sys' to see the timestamp and version
    Affected if The Win32k.sys version predates the May 2018 security update (baseline version is 6.1.7601.23915 for Windows 7 SP1) or the file has not been updated since May 2018
  4. Confirm Win32k component is in use
    The vulnerability affects the Win32k kernel-mode driver (win32k.sys). On systems where this driver is loaded (all affected Windows 7/Server 2008 systems with GUI), the flaw is present if unpatched
    Affected if The system runs a GUI session and win32k.sys is loaded, and steps 1-3 confirm an unpatched affected Windows version

A system is affected if it runs Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008/R2 without security update KB4132648 installed, indicated by a Win32k.sys version earlier than the May 2018 patch baseline.

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 the Microsoft security update (KB4132648) to all affected systems. For end-of-life systems unable to receive patches, restrict local user privileges and deploy additional exploit mitigation protections such as Windows Defender Exploit Guard.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to a supported Windows version such as Windows 10 or Windows Server 2016/2019/2022. Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2008 R2 reached end of support in January 2020, January 2020, and January 2020 respectively.

  1. Apply the May 2018 security updates from Microsoft. For Windows 7, install KB4103718. For Windows Server 2008 R2, install KB4103718.
  2. Alternatively, if on Windows Server 2008, install the corresponding May 2018 security update (KB4103715).
  3. Verify the update was installed successfully by checking Windows Update history or using the Get-HotFix PowerShell command.
  4. Confirm the vulnerability is remediated by ensuring the security update is listed as installed.
Caveat Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 are end-of-support products; no further security updates will be provided. Upgrading to a newer OS may require application compatibility testing and hardware changes.

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

Fix this in Windows 7 Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
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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-2018-8120 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