CVE-2022-21838
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 · uneditedWindows Cleanup Manager Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
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 Cleanup Manager component. It allows an authenticated attacker to execute code with elevated (SYSTEM) privileges by exploiting improper permission handling in the Cleanup Manager functionality.
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= 20h2= 21h1= 21h2= 1607= 1809= 1909all versionsall versionsall versions= 20h2= 2022= r2all versions= r2all 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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Check Windows versionRun 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' to identify the installed Windows version and build number.Affected if The version matches any of the affected versions: Windows 10 (1607, 1809, 1909, 20h2, 21h1, 21h2), Windows 11 (all), Windows 7 (all), Windows 8.1 (all), Windows Server 2008 R2, 2012, 2012 R2, 2016, 2022, 20h2.
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Verify Cleanup Manager accessibilityLocate cleanmgr.exe (typically in C:\Windows\System32\ or C:\Windows\SysWOW64\) and check if standard non-admin users can execute it. Run 'icacls cleanmgr.exe' to inspect NTFS permissions on the file.Affected if Standard users have execute access to cleanmgr.exe without proper restriction.
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Audit for privilege escalation attemptsReview Windows Security event logs and System event log for Event ID 4688 (Process Creation) involving cleanmgr.exe spawned by non-privileged accounts, or look for suspicious child processes. Use 'Get-WinEvent -LogName Security -FilterHashtable @{ID=4688; StartTime=(Get-Date).AddDays(-7)} | Where-Object {$_.Message -match "cleanmgr"}'Affected if cleanmgr.exe was executed by a standard user account within the audit period.
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Check for scheduled cleanup tasksReview scheduled tasks related to Cleanup Manager using 'schtasks /query /fo LIST /v' and look for tasks under Microsoft\Windows\DiskCleanup or related cleanup utilities. Also check Task Scheduler GUI for DiskCleanup tasks.Affected if DiskCleanup or Cleanup Manager scheduled tasks exist and are executable by standard users.
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Inspect Cleanup Manager directory permissionsCheck permissions on the DiskCleanup folder (typically C:\Windows\System32\Cleanup) and any Temp directories used by Cleanup Manager. Use 'icacls' on these directories.Affected if Standard users have write or execute permissions on directories used by the Cleanup Manager component.
A system is affected if it runs any of the listed Windows versions AND standard authenticated users have access to execute the Cleanup Manager (cleanmgr.exe) or related disk cleanup components without proper privilege restrictions.
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 released for CVE-2022-21838. This is a local vulnerability requiring authenticated access, so ensure least-privilege user accounts and restrict interactive logon rights for standard users.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 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 $3,088.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-21838 — 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-2022-21838 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data