CVE-2019-1215
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 in the way that ws2ifsl.sys (Winsock) handles objects in memory, aka 'Windows Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability'. This CVE ID is unique from CVE-2019-1253, CVE-2019-1278, CVE-2019-1303.
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 confidenceA local privilege escalation vulnerability in ws2ifsl.sys (Windows Winsock) where the driver improperly handles objects in memory, allowing a low-privilege attacker to elevate to SYSTEM/kernel-level access.
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 versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsCVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm Windows version is affectedRun 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' to identify the installed Windows version. Check if it matches Windows 10 (versions 1507, 1607, 1703, 1709, 1803, 1809, 1903) or Windows 7.Affected if The system runs any version of Windows 10 1507 through 1903, or Windows 7.
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Locate ws2ifsl.sys driver fileOpen File Explorer and navigate to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\ws2ifsl.sys, or run 'dir C:\Windows\System32\drivers\ws2ifsl.sys' in Command Prompt.Affected if The file ws2ifsl.sys exists on the system.
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Check ws2ifsl.sys file versionRight-click ws2ifsl.sys in File Explorer, select Properties, then view the Details tab for File Version. Alternatively, run 'powershell (Get-Item C:\Windows\System32\drivers\ws2ifsl.sys).VersionInfo' to retrieve version details.Affected if The file version matches a vulnerable build (note: without the patch, this driver is exploitable).
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Verify driver is present and accessibleRun 'sc query ws2ifsl' or check the driver list via 'driverquery /v | findstr ws2ifsl' to confirm the driver is registered on the system.Affected if The ws2ifsl driver is registered on the system, indicating the attack surface is present.
A system is affected if it runs Windows 10 versions 1507-1903 or Windows 7, and contains the ws2ifsl.sys driver, since the vulnerability allows local privilege escalation from a low-privilege account to SYSTEM/kernel-level access.
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 addressing CVE-2019-1215 to patch the vulnerable ws2ifsl.sys driver.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,224.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-1215 — 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-2019-1215 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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