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Windows 10Operating system · Microsoft

CVE-2022-35803

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-09-13
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 Common Log File System Driver 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

A local privilege escalation vulnerability in the Windows Common Log File System (CLFS) driver allows a low-privileged authenticated user to gain SYSTEM-level code execution by exploiting a flaw in the kernel-mode driver.

MitigationApply the Microsoft security update for CVE-2022-35803 to all affected Windows systems; until patched, restrict untrusted users from logging on locally and monitor for indicators of compromise.

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
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

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 number
    Run 'winver' or 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' to display the installed Windows version and build number
    Affected if The version and build do not include the September 2022 security update that addresses CVE-2022-35803 (for Windows 10: build 19042.1806 or later; for Windows 11: build 22000.978 or later; for Server 2016: build 14393.5355 or later)
  2. Verify security update installation
    Open Settings > Windows Update > View update history, or run 'wmic qfe list' to list installed hotfixes, and look for the September 2022 security update (KB5017380 for Windows 10 21h2, KB5017379 for Windows 10 21h1, KB5017361 for Windows 10 20h2, KB5017392 for Windows 11, or respective September 2022 cumulative updates)
    Affected if The September 2022 security update for CVE-2022-35803 is not listed among installed updates
  3. Check CLFS driver version
    Open an elevated command prompt and run 'driverquery /v | findstr clfs' or navigate to %systemroot%\system32\drivers\clfs.sys, right-click > Properties > Details to view the file version
    Affected if The clfs.sys driver version is earlier than the patched version (for example, versions prior to 10.0.19041.1682 on Windows 10 20h2) and does not contain the vulnerability fix

The system is likely affected if it runs any of the affected Windows versions listed AND is missing the September 2022 security updates that address CVE-2022-35803.

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 Microsoft security update for CVE-2022-35803 to all affected Windows systems; until patched, restrict untrusted users from logging on locally and monitor for indicators of compromise.

Recommended fix High confidence
  1. Open Windows Update settings on the affected system
  2. Check for and install the latest Windows security updates, or manually download and install the specific security update for CVE-2022-35803 from the Microsoft Security Response Center (msrc.microsoft.com)
  3. Restart the system if prompted after the update is installed
  4. Verify the update was successfully applied by checking the installed updates or using the Windows Update history

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
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.

Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-35803 — 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-2022-35803 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