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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 25 Oct 2023.
Windows 10 1507Operating system · Microsoft

CVE-2023-28229

HIGH · 7.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-04-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.0.10240.19869 / 10.0.14393.5850 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 CNG Key Isolation Service 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

This is an Elevation of Privilege (EoP) vulnerability in the Windows CNG (Cryptography Next Generation) Key Isolation Service, a Windows service that isolates cryptographic operations. The vulnerability allows an authenticated attacker to gain elevated privileges, likely by exploiting improper access controls or privilege handling within the service.

MitigationApply the relevant Microsoft security updates for CVE-2023-28229 through Windows Update or by deploying the applicable security patch to all affected Windows systems.

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:< 10.0.10240.19869
Windows 10 1607Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.14393.5850
Windows 10 1809Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.17763.4252
Windows 10 20h2Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.19042.2846
Windows 10 21h2Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.19044.2846
Windows 10 22h2Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.19045.2846
Windows 11 21h2Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.22000.1817
Windows 11 22h2Operating system
Affected:< 10.0.22621.1555

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
High
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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. Retrieve Windows build number
    Run 'winver' or execute 'systeminfo | findstr /B /C:"OS Name" /C:"OS Version"' or query registry 'reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion" /v CurrentBuild'
    Affected if The build number is below the threshold for your Windows version (1507: <10240.19869, 1607: <14393.5850, 1809: <17763.4252, 20h2: <19042.2846, 21h2: <19044.2846, 22h2: <19045.2846, 11 21h2: <22000.1817, 11 22h2: <22621.1555)
  2. Confirm Windows edition family
    Run 'winver' or check system properties to identify if you are on Windows 10 1507, 1607, 1809, 20h2, 21h2, 22h2, or Windows 11 21h2/22h2
    Affected if You are running any of the listed Windows 10 or Windows 11 versions and your build falls below the version-specific threshold in step 1
  3. Verify Key Isolation service presence
    Run 'sc query keyiso' or check Services console for "CNG Key Isolation" service status
    Affected if The KeyIso service exists on the system (it is a default Windows component)

If your Windows build number is below the version-specific threshold for your Windows edition, your system contains the vulnerable CNG Key Isolation service and is affected by CVE-2023-28229.

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 10.0.10240.19869 / 10.0.14393.5850 / 10.0.17763.4252 or later
Fixed in 10.0.10240.1986910.0.14393.585010.0.17763.4252
Vendor patch msrc.microsoft.com →
Interim mitigation

Apply the relevant Microsoft security updates for CVE-2023-28229 through Windows Update or by deploying the applicable security patch to all affected Windows systems.

Recommended fix High confidence

Upgrade to the April 2023 Windows Security Update (KB5025221 for 1507, KB5025220 for 1607, KB5025219 for 1809, KB5025218 for 20H2, KB5025217 for 21H2, KB5025216 for 22H2, KB5025215 for 11 21H2, KB5025224 for 11 22H2) or later

  1. Identify the exact Windows version by running 'winver' or 'systeminfo' to confirm the current build number
  2. For Windows 10 1507: Apply KB5025221 or later to reach build 10.0.10240.19869
  3. For Windows 10 1607: Apply KB5025220 or later to reach build 10.0.14393.5850
  4. For Windows 10 1809: Apply KB5025219 or later to reach build 10.0.17763.4252
  5. For Windows 10 20h2: Apply KB5025218 or later to reach build 10.0.19042.2846
  6. For Windows 10 21h2: Apply KB5025217 or later to reach build 10.0.19044.2846
  7. For Windows 10 22h2: Apply KB5025216 or later to reach build 10.0.19045.2846
  8. For Windows 11 21h2: Apply KB5025215 or later to reach build 10.0.22000.1817
Caveat Standard Windows monthly security update; no breaking changes expected for most users

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

Fix this in Windows 10 1507 Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,900
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,040.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-28229 — 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-2023-28229 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