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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 13 Jun 2022.
Windows 7Operating system · Microsoft

CVE-2018-8589

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2018-11-14
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 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 when Windows improperly handles calls to Win32k.sys, aka "Windows Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability." This affects Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2.

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-2018-8589 is an elevation of privilege vulnerability in the Windows kernel-mode driver (win32k.sys). The vulnerability allows a local attacker to execute arbitrary code in kernel mode by improperly handling specific system calls, potentially escalating from a low-privilege user account to full administrator or SYSTEM-level access.

MitigationApply the relevant Microsoft security update (KB4483188 for Windows 7/Server 2008 R2, KB4483187 for Server 2008) to patch the win32k.sys driver. For end-of-life systems like Windows 7, consider upgrading to a supported Windows version or implementing compensating controls such as restricted user privileges and application whitelisting.

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
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
    Run 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' to determine if the system is Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, or Windows Server 2008 R2
    Affected if The system is NOT one of these versions (the vulnerability only affects these specific versions)
  2. Verify win32k.sys exists
    Confirm the file C:\Windows\System32\win32k.sys is present on the system
    Affected if The file is missing (unlikely on affected systems)
  3. Check win32k.sys file version
    Right-click win32k.sys in C:\Windows\System32\, select Properties, then Details, or run 'powershell (Get-Item C:\Windows\System32\win32k.sys).VersionInfo' to retrieve the file version
    Affected if The file version is lower than the patched version for your Windows version (compare against Microsoft's release notes for KB4483188 or KB4483187)
  4. Check for security update KB4483188
    Run 'wmic qfe list | findstr "4483188"' or 'Get-HotFix -Id KB4483188' to see if the Windows 7/Server 2008 R2 patch is installed
    Affected if The hotfix is NOT installed on Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 systems
  5. Check for security update KB4483187
    Run 'wmic qfe list | findstr "4483187"' or 'Get-HotFix -Id KB4483187' to see if the Windows Server 2008 patch is installed
    Affected if The hotfix is NOT installed on Windows Server 2008 systems

A user is affected if they are running Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, or Windows Server 2008 R2 AND neither KB4483188 nor KB4483187 (depending on version) is installed, meaning the win32k.sys driver remains unpatched.

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 relevant Microsoft security update (KB4483188 for Windows 7/Server 2008 R2, KB4483187 for Server 2008) to patch the win32k.sys driver. For end-of-life systems like Windows 7, consider upgrading to a supported Windows version or implementing compensating controls such as restricted user privileges and application whitelisting.

Recommended fix High confidence

If moving to a supported OS: Windows 10 or Windows Server 2016/2019/2022. Note: Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 reached end of support in January 2020.

  1. Apply the December 2018 security updates from Microsoft. For Windows 7, install KB4471319 (December 11, 2018 Security Monthly Quality Rollup). For Windows Server 2008 R2, install KB4471319. These can be obtained via Windows Update, Microsoft Update Catalog, or WSUS.
  2. Alternatively, enable Extended Security Updates (ESU) for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 if still running these out-of-support systems, then apply subsequent monthly rollups that include this fix.
  3. Verify the update was applied successfully by checking that the Win32k.sys version has been updated and the system is no longer vulnerable to this elevation of privilege.
Caveat If upgrading the OS (rather than patching): legacy application compatibility may be affected; thoroughly test business-critical applications before production deployment. Windows 7 ESU requires additional licensing costs.

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

Fix this in Windows 7 Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,080
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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-2018-8589 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