CVE-2022-24494
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 Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock 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 Ancillary Function Driver (afd.sys), which handles Windows Sockets (WinSock) communications. A local attacker could exploit this to gain higher privileges on the affected system, potentially achieving SYSTEM-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 versions= 20h2= 21h1= 21h2= 1607= 1809= 1909all versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versions= r2all versions= r2all versions= 20h2CVSS 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 version against affected listRun 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' to identify the exact Windows version and build number. Cross-reference with the affected versions: Windows 10 (1607, 1809, 1909, 20h2, 21h1, 21h2), Windows 11, Windows 7, 8.1, Rt 8.1, Server 2008/R2, 2012/R2, 2016/20h2.Affected if The installed Windows version matches any of the listed affected versions.
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Verify afd.sys driver is presentCheck if the afd.sys driver is loaded by running 'sc query afd' in Command Prompt or reviewing the driver list in Device Manager under 'Non-Plug and Play Drivers'. The driver path is typically C:\Windows\System32\drivers\afd.sys.Affected if The afd.sys driver is loaded on the system, which is standard for any Windows system with network connectivity.
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Check for CVE-2022-24494 security updateRun 'powershell "(Get-HotFix -Description 'Security Update' | Where-Object {$_.HotFixID -eq 'KB5001402' -or $_.HotFixID -eq 'KB5000802'})"' or check Windows Update history for March 2022 security updates addressing this vulnerability.Affected if The security update for CVE-2022-24494 (March 2022 patches) is NOT installed on the system.
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Inspect afd.sys driver file versionRight-click C:\Windows\System32\drivers\afd.sys, select Properties, and check the File Version. Compare against the patched version for your Windows build (patched versions vary by Windows release).Affected if The afd.sys file version is lower than the version released with the March 2022 security update for your specific Windows version.
The system is affected if it runs any listed affected Windows version, has the afd.sys driver loaded, and is missing the March 2022 security update for CVE-2022-24494.
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 for CVE-2022-24494 via Windows Update or enterprise patch management systems. For systems that cannot be immediately patched, restrict local access to trusted users and monitor for suspicious process activity.
- 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-2022-24494 — 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-2022-24494 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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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.
- 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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