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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 21 Jul 2022. Known ransomware use
Windows 10 1507Operating system · Microsoft

CVE-2018-8453

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2018-10-10
Patch available
A vendor patch is available. No clean upgrade release — apply the published patch.
See remediation →
97/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild Ransomware High EPSS Public exploit No privileges 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 7, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows RT 8.1, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2019, 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 · moderate confidence

CVE-2018-8453 is an elevation of privilege vulnerability in the Windows Win32k kernel-mode component (win32k.sys). The vulnerability stems from improper memory object handling within Win32k, allowing a local attacker to escalate privileges from a low-privileged context to SYSTEM/kernel level. This is a kernel-level flaw affecting multiple Windows versions.

MitigationApply Microsoft security updates (KB4467708 and subsequent patches) to all affected Windows systems. Prioritize patching servers and workstations based on exposure and criticality.

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 1607Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 10 1703Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 10 1709Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 10 1803Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 10 1809Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 7Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 8.1Operating system
Affected:all versions

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
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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
    Run `winver`, check System Properties, or run `systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"`
    Affected if The version is Windows 10 1507, 1607, 1703, 1709, 1803, 1809, Windows 7 (any version), or Windows 8.1 (any version)
  2. Verify win32k.sys presence
    Check that C:\Windows\System32\win32k.sys exists on the system
    Affected if File exists (present on all affected Windows installations by default)
  3. Confirm security update installation
    Run `Get-HotFix | Where-Object {$_.HotFixID -eq "KB4467708"}` or check Windows Update history for KB4467708 or later cumulative security updates
    Affected if The specific patch KB4467708 (or a later cumulative update containing this fix) is NOT installed

A system is affected if it runs any of the listed Windows versions AND the CVE-2018-8453 security patch is not installed.

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 (KB4467708 and subsequent patches) to all affected Windows systems. Prioritize patching servers and workstations based on exposure and criticality.

Recommended fix High confidence

For Windows 7/8.1 end-of-life systems: upgrade to Windows 10 21H2 or Windows 11; for supported Windows 10 versions: latest supported cumulative update (post-October 2018)

  1. 1. Identify the installed Windows version and build number by running 'winver' or 'systeminfo' in Command Prompt
  2. 2. Determine the appropriate security update for your Windows version from Microsoft Security Update Guide (portal.msrc.microsoft.com)
  3. 3. For Windows 10 1809: Apply KB4462919 (October 2018 Security Update) or later cumulative update
  4. 4. For Windows 10 1803: Apply KB4462917 (October 2018 Security Update) or later cumulative update
  5. 5. For Windows 10 1709: Apply KB4462869 (October 2018 Security Update) or later cumulative update
  6. 6. For Windows 10 1703: Apply KB4462865 (October 2018 Security Update) or later cumulative update
  7. 7. For Windows 10 1607: Apply KB4462916 (October 2018 Security Update) or later cumulative update
  8. 8. For Windows 10 1507: Apply KB4462915 (October 2018 Security Update) or later cumulative update
Caveat Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 are end-of-support; extended security updates may require Windows 10/11 upgrade for continued protection

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
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,800
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,480.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-8453 — 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-2018-8453 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