Microsoft Windows SAM Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists because of overly permissive Access Control Lists (ACLs) on multiple system files, including the Security Accounts Manager (SAM) database. An attacker who successfully exploited this…
Severity = CVSS. Probability = EPSS (FIRST). Exploitation = public signals: KEV, EUVD, ransomware, EPSS above 10 %, no account required.
Exploitation probability EPSS · FIRST
Exploitation signals 3 / 5
- KEV catalog (CISA)10 Feb 2022
- Exploited in EUVD (ENISA)10 Feb 2022
- Used by ransomwareno
- EPSS above 10 %67.3%
- No account, over the networkno
What to do
Fix
Apply the vendor’s fix as soon as it is available.
CISA guidance: Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Meanwhile
Take the service off the internet or restrict access to it, watch the logs and look for signs of compromise.
Manufacturers (CRA)
Exploited vulnerability in your product: early warning to ENISA within 24 h, then notification within 72 h (Article 14 of the Cyber Resilience Act). The CRA explained
Description ENISA EUVD
An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists because of overly permissive Access Control Lists (ACLs) on multiple system files, including the Security Accounts Manager (SAM) database. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could run arbitrary code with SYSTEM privileges. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. An attacker must have the ability to execute code on a victim system to exploit this vulnerability. After installing this security update, you must manually delete all shadow copies of system files, including the SAM database, to fully mitigate this vulnerabilty. Simply installing this security update will not fully mitigate this vulnerability. See KB5005357- Delete Volume Shadow Copies.
Affected products
- 10.0.17763.0 <10.0.17763.2114
- 10.0.0 <10.0.19042.1165
- 10.0.0 <10.0.18363.1734
- 10.0.0 <10.0.17763.2114
- 10.0.0 <10.0.19041.1165
- 10.0.0 <10.0.19043.1165
Open source packages OSV
Affected libraries according to OSV, with fixed versions.
Timeline
-
Published
-
Exploitation reported (ENISA)
-
Added to the KEV catalog
-
CISA remediation due date
-
EPSS peak: 67.3%
References
Other exploited vulnerabilities from the same vendor
- CVE-2026-96951Microsoft Windows Command Injection Vulnerability5.6 · Actively exploited
- CVE-2026-65660Microsoft SharePoint Code Injection Vulnerability5.0 · Actively exploited
- CVE-2026-85880Microsoft Windows Heap-Based Buffer Overflow Vulnerability4.3 · Actively exploited
- CVE-2026-81963Microsoft Windows Link Following Vulnerability4.3 · Actively exploited
- CVE-2019-1068Microsoft SQL Server Remote Code Execution Vulnerability7.0 · Actively exploited
- CVE-2026-69836Microsoft Entra5.3 · Actively exploited