CVE-2018-8169
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 · uneditedAn elevation of privilege vulnerability exists when the (Human Interface Device) HID Parser Library driver improperly handles objects in memory, aka "HIDParser Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability." This affects Windows 7, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows RT 8.1, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2012, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 10, Windows 10 Servers.
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 elevation of privilege vulnerability in the Windows HID (Human Interface Device) Parser Library driver. The driver improperly handles objects in memory, allowing a local attacker to execute arbitrary code with elevated (kernel) privileges. The vulnerability is in a kernel-mode driver affecting multiple Windows versions.
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= 1607= 1703= 1709= 1803all versionsall versionsall versionsall versions= r2all versions= r2all versions= 1709= 1803CVSS 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:3.0/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Windows version and build numberOpen Command Prompt and run 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' to obtain the exact Windows edition, version, and build number.Affected if The system runs Windows 10 (any version), Windows 7 (any version), Windows 8.1 (any version), Windows Rt 8.1 (any version), Windows Server 2008 (any version), Windows Server 2012 (any version), or Windows Server 2016 (any version).
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Verify if security update is installedOpen Command Prompt and run 'wmic qfe list' or 'Get-HotFix -Id KB4338815' in PowerShell to check if KB4338815 or subsequent cumulative updates addressing this vulnerability are installed.Affected if The security update KB4338815 (or a later cumulative update containing the fix) is NOT installed on the system.
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Confirm HID Parser driver is presentOpen Command Prompt and run 'sc query hidparse' or check for the file 'hidparse.sys' in the system32/drivers directory to verify the HID parser driver is loaded on the system.Affected if The HID parser driver (hidparse.sys) is present and loaded, which is the default state for standard Windows installations using HID devices.
A system is affected if it runs any affected Windows version AND lacks the security update KB4338815 or a subsequent cumulative update that addresses this vulnerability.
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 (KB4338815 or subsequent cumulative updates) to all affected Windows systems. As this is a kernel driver vulnerability, there are no workarounds; patching is the only mitigation.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 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-2018-8169 — 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-2018-8169 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
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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