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Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 5 Oct 2022.
Windows 10 1507Operating system · Microsoft

CVE-2022-37969

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-09-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.0.10240.19444 / 10.0.14393.5356 or later.
See remediation →
96/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild Zero-click Patch available

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 privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the Windows Common Log File System (CLFS) driver that allows a local attacker to gain elevated system privileges. The CLFS is a kernel-mode logging utility used by Windows for transaction logging.

MitigationApply the Microsoft security update for CVE-2022-37969, typically delivered via Windows Update or enterprise patch management systems. Prioritize workstations and servers that handle sensitive data or are exposed to untrusted users.

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 10 1507Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.10240.19444
Windows 10 1607Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.14393.5356
Windows 10 1809Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.17763.3406
Windows 10 20h2Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.19042.2006
Windows 10 21h1Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.19043.2006
Windows 10 21h2Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.19044.2006
Windows 11 21h2Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.22000.978
Windows 7Operating 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 get the exact Windows version and build number
    Affected if The system runs Windows 7 (any version), Windows 10 1507, 1607, 1809, 20h2, 21h1, 21h2, or Windows 11 21h2 with a build number below the fixed thresholds listed in the affected versions
  2. Check if running Windows 7
    Run 'systeminfo | findstr "OS"' and verify the OS Name contains Windows 7
    Affected if The system is any version of Windows 7 (all versions are affected)
  3. Locate and verify clfs.sys driver version
    Navigate to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\clfs.sys, right-click Properties, go to Details tab, and note the File Version, or run 'Get-Item C:\Windows\System32\drivers\clfs.sys | Select-Object VersionInfo' in PowerShell
    Affected if The clfs.sys version is older than the version bundled in the patched builds for the respective Windows release (typically pre-September 2022 updates)
  4. Confirm system is missing the security update
    Run 'wmic qfe list' or check Windows Update history for installed security updates related to September 2022 or later (KB5017380, KB5017390, or subsequent monthly updates)
    Affected if No security update for CVE-2022-37969 is installed and the Windows version/build falls within the affected ranges

A system is affected if it runs Windows 7 (any version) or a Windows 10/11 version with a build number lower than the fixed thresholds, and lacks the September 2022 or later security update for this CVE.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 10.0.10240.19444 / 10.0.14393.5356 / 10.0.17763.3406 or later
Fixed in 10.0.10240.1944410.0.14393.535610.0.17763.3406
Vendor patch msrc.microsoft.com →
Interim mitigation

Apply the Microsoft security update for CVE-2022-37969, typically delivered via Windows Update or enterprise patch management systems. Prioritize workstations and servers that handle sensitive data or are exposed to untrusted users.

Recommended fix High confidence

Windows 10 1507: 10.0.10240.19444 | Windows 10 1607: 10.0.14393.5356 | Windows 10 1809: 10.0.17763.3406 | Windows 10 20h2: 10.0.19042.2006 | Windows 10 21h1: 10.0.19043.2006 | Windows 10 21h2: 10.0.19044.2006 | Windows 11 21h2: 10.0.22000.978

  1. Identify the installed Windows version and build by running 'winver' or 'systeminfo' in Command Prompt
  2. For Windows 10 1507: Install KB5019970 (10.0.10240.19444)
  3. For Windows 10 1607: Install KB5019978 (10.0.14393.5356)
  4. For Windows 10 1809: Install KB5019980 (10.0.17763.3406)
  5. For Windows 10 20h2: Install KB5019982 (10.0.19042.2006)
  6. For Windows 10 21h1: Install KB5019982 (10.0.19043.2006)
  7. For Windows 10 21h2: Install KB5019985 (10.0.19044.2006)
  8. For Windows 11 21h2: Install KB5019987 (10.0.22000.978)
Caveat Windows 7 has no security support; must migrate to a supported OS; ensure compatibility of applications with newer Windows 10/11 versions before upgrading

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

Fix this in Windows 10 1507 Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-37969 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2022-37969 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