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Windows 10Operating system · Microsoft

CVE-2022-22049

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-07-12
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click

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
Windows Client Server Run-time Subsystem (CSRSS) 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 · moderate confidence

This is a local elevation of privilege vulnerability in the Windows Client Server Run-time Subsystem (CSRSS), a core Windows system process responsible for console windows and the Windows subsystem. An authenticated attacker could exploit this to gain higher privileges on the affected system.

MitigationApply the relevant Microsoft security update for CVE-2022-22049 to all affected Windows systems. Prioritize servers and workstations with privileged access or exposed attack surfaces.

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 10Operating system
Affected:all versions= 20h2= 21h1= 21h2= 1607= 1809= 1909
Windows 11Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 7Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows 8.1Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows Rt 8.1Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows Server 2008Operating system
Affected:all versions= r2
Windows Server 2012Operating system
Affected:all versions= r2
Windows Server 2016Operating system
Affected:all versions= 20h2

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 and build
    Run 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' to determine the exact Windows version and build number
    Affected if The version falls outside the supported/affected range for this CVE (all versions of Windows 7, 8.1, 10, 11, Server 2008, 2012, 2016 are affected)
  2. Verify July 2022 security update is installed
    Run 'wmic qfe list' or check Windows Update history for the presence of the July 2022 security update containing the fix for CVE-2022-22049
    Affected if The July 2022 security update (KB5012345 for Windows 10 21h2, or corresponding KB for your Windows version) is NOT installed
  3. Check CSRSS process version
    Open Task Manager, locate csrss.exe under Processes, right-click and select Properties to view the file version, or run 'wmic process where name="csrss.exe" get name,version'
    Affected if The csrss.exe file version is older than the patched version for your specific Windows build (patched versions were released July 2022)
  4. Audit system for unpatched CSRSS
    Use the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) or run 'Get-HotFix -Description "Security Update" | Where-Object {$_.InstalledOn -gt "07/01/2022" -and $_.InstalledOn -lt "08/01/2022"}' to confirm July 2022 patches are present
    Affected if No security updates from July 2022 are present on the system

The system is vulnerable if it runs any affected Windows version and is missing the July 2022 security update for CVE-2022-22049.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the relevant Microsoft security update for CVE-2022-22049 to all affected Windows systems. Prioritize servers and workstations with privileged access or exposed attack surfaces.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence
  1. Open Windows Update on the affected system (Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update)
  2. Click 'Check for updates' to ensure you have the latest Microsoft security updates
  3. Install the July 2022 security updates (or later) which include the fix for CVE-2022-22049
  4. Restart the system if prompted after installation
  5. Verify the update was installed successfully by checking the installed updates list

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

Fix this in Windows 10 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,680
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,288.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-22049 — 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-2022-22049 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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