Microsoft Windows AppX Installer Spoofing Vulnerability
We have investigated reports of a spoofing vulnerability in AppX installer that affects Microsoft Windows. Microsoft is aware of attacks that attempt to exploit this vulnerability by using specially crafted packages that include the…
Severity = CVSS. Probability = EPSS (FIRST). Exploitation = public signals: KEV, EUVD, ransomware, EPSS above 10 %, no account required.
Exploitation probability EPSS · FIRST
Exploitation signals 4 / 5
- KEV catalog (CISA)15 Dec 2021
- Exploited in EUVD (ENISA)15 Dec 2021
- Used by ransomwareyes
- EPSS above 10 %11.3%
- 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
We have investigated reports of a spoofing vulnerability in AppX installer that affects Microsoft Windows. Microsoft is aware of attacks that attempt to exploit this vulnerability by using specially crafted packages that include the malware family known as Emotet/Trickbot/Bazaloader. An attacker could craft a malicious attachment to be used in phishing campaigns. The attacker would then have to convince the user to open the specially crafted attachment. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights. Please see the Security Updates table for the link to the updated app. Alternatively you can download and install the Installer using the links provided in the FAQ section. Please see the Mitigations and Workaround sections for important information about steps you can take to protect your system from this vulnerability. December 27 2023 Update: In recent months, Microsoft Threat Intelligence has seen an increase in activity from threat actors leveraging social engineering and phishing techniques to target Windows OS users and utilizing the ms-appinstaller URI scheme. To address this increase in activity, we have updated the App Installer to disable the ms-appinstaller protocol by default and recommend other potential mitigations.
Affected products
- 1.0.0.0 <publication
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: 11.3%
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