CVE-2023-21774
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 Kernel 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 confidenceWindows Kernel Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability in Microsoft Windows operating systems that could allow a local attacker to gain elevated privileges.
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 versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsCVSS 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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Identify your Windows version and build numberOpen Command Prompt or PowerShell and run: `winver` or `systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"`. Alternatively, press Win+R and type `winver`.Affected if The displayed version matches Windows 10 1607, 1809, 20H2, 21H2, 22H2, Windows 11 21H2, 22H2, or Windows 7 (any build).
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Check if the security update is installedOpen Settings > Windows Update > Update history, or run: `wmic qfe list` in Command Prompt. Look for KB numbers corresponding to the February 2023 security updates.Affected if No February 2023 Windows security update (or later) is listed in the installed updates.
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Verify kernel file version as secondary checkOpen File Explorer, navigate to C:\Windows\System32, right-click on ntoskrnl.exe, select Properties, and view the Details tab for the File version.Affected if The kernel file version is earlier than the version that includes the CVE-2023-21774 fix (compare against Microsoft's February 2023 security bulletin).
You are affected if your Windows version matches any of the listed affected products AND the February 2023 security update for CVE-2023-21774 is not installed.
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.
dbcve · scopedApply the official Microsoft security update for CVE-2023-21774 as soon as practicable, as this is a kernel-level privilege escalation vulnerability.
Apply the relevant Microsoft security update (KB) for CVE-2023-21774 for your specific Windows version
- Locate the Microsoft security update for CVE-2023-21774 on the Microsoft Security Response Center (msrc.microsoft.com) or Microsoft Update Catalog
- Identify the appropriate KB article for your specific Windows version from the affected products list
- Apply the security update through Windows Update, WSUS, or by downloading the specific update package from the Microsoft Update Catalog
- Restart the system as required to complete the patch installation
- Verify the update was successfully installed by checking the installed updates or using the Windows Update history
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- 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-2023-21774 — 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-2023-21774 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data