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Windows 10Operating system · Microsoft

CVE-2022-44677

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-12-13
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 Projected File System 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 Windows Projected File System (ProjFS) that allows an authenticated low-privileged attacker to gain elevated SYSTEM privileges by exploiting improper validation within the ProjFS kernel driver.

MitigationApply the December 2022 Windows security update (KB5022913) which addresses this and related ProjFS vulnerabilities; ensure least-privilege principles limit local user permissions as a defense-in-depth measure.

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:= 20h2= 21h1= 21h2= 22h2= 1809
Windows 11Operating system
Affected:all versions= 22h2
Windows Server 2019Operating system
Affected:all versions
Windows Server 2022Operating 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. Check Windows version
    Run '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 Windows 10 1809, 20h2, 21h1, 21h2, 22h2; Windows 11 any version or 22h2; Windows Server 2019 any version; or Windows Server 2022 any version
  2. Verify ProjFS feature is enabled
    Run 'Get-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName *ProjFS*' in PowerShell or check the 'Projected File System' feature status via DISM: 'dism /online /get-features /format:table' and look for 'ProjectedFSFilter'
    Affected if The ProjFS feature shows as Enabled or the filter driver is installed
  3. Identify applications using ProjFS
    Review installed applications for those that utilize Projected File System (common in cloud sync tools, virtualization software, or deduplication products). Check process list for mrxdav.sys activity or search for 'ProjectedFS' in running services
    Affected if Applications or services that rely on ProjFS functionality are installed or running on the system

The system is potentially affected if it runs an affected Windows version AND has the ProjFS feature or driver enabled and any authenticated user can interact with it.

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 December 2022 Windows security update (KB5022913) which addresses this and related ProjFS vulnerabilities; ensure least-privilege principles limit local user permissions as a defense-in-depth measure.

Recommended fix High confidence

Apply the December 2022 Windows security updates (KB5021233 or subsequent cumulative updates) for your specific Windows version

  1. Apply the Windows security update for CVE-2022-44677 via Windows Update (Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update > Check for updates)
  2. Alternatively, download the specific security update from the Microsoft Update Catalog (catalog.update.microsoft.com) by searching for CVE-2022-44677
  3. For enterprise environments, deploy the update through Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) or Microsoft Intune
  4. Restart the affected systems after applying the update to ensure the vulnerability is fully remediated
  5. Verify the update is installed by checking the installed updates list or running: Get-HotFix | Where-Object {$_.Description -match 'Security Update'}

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

Fix this in Windows 10 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,120
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2022-44677 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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