{"id":"CVE-2021-1732","published":"2021-02-25T23:15:13Z","modified":"2026-08-12T05:17:32Z","title":"Microsoft Win32k Privilege Escalation Vulnerability","vendor":"Microsoft","product":"Win32k","tier":"core","eol":null,"description":{"text":"Windows Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability","provenance":"source","from":"NVD"},"summary":{"text":"The Win32k component of Microsoft Windows contains a privilege escalation flaw, classified as an out-of-bounds write. An attacker with local access and low-privileged credentials can exploit it without any user interaction to elevate privileges and gain high impact to confidentiality, integrity, and availability.","provenance":"ai","model":"claude-haiku-5-5","generatedAt":"2026-10-23T06:55:45Z"},"cvss":{"score":7.8,"severity":"HIGH","version":"3.1","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","provenance":"source","from":"NVD"},"epss":{"score":0.78376,"percentile":0.99581,"date":"2026-10-29","provenance":"source"},"kev":{"dateAdded":"2021-11-03","dueDate":"2021-11-17","ransomware":true,"requiredAction":"Apply updates per vendor instructions.","notes":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-1732","provenance":"source"},"vulncheckKev":{"dateAdded":"2020-12-10","exploitedFirstSeen":"2020-12-10","ransomware":true,"evidence":[{"url":"https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lkNJ0uQwbeC1ZTRrxdtuPLCIl7mlUreoKfSIgajnSyY/edit","date":"2020-12-10"},{"url":"https://api.msrc.microsoft.com/cvrf/v3.0/cvrf/2021-Feb","date":"2021-02-09"},{"url":"https://ti.dbappsecurity.com.cn/blog/index.php/2021/02/10/windows-kernel-zero-day-exploit-is-used-by-bitter-apt-in-targeted-attack/","date":"2021-02-10"},{"url":"https://securelist.com/zero-day-vulnerability-in-desktop-window-manager-cve-2021-28310-used-in-the-wild/101898/","date":"2021-04-13"},{"url":"https://threatresearch.ext.hp.com/purple-fox-exploit-kit-now-exploits-cve-2021-26411/","date":"2021-04-14"},{"url":"https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/research/21/j/purplefox-adds-new-backdoor-that-uses-websockets.html","date":"2021-10-19"},{"url":"https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/feeds/known_exploited_vulnerabilities.json","date":"2021-11-03"},{"url":"https://www.tenable.com/blog/contileaks-chats-reveal-over-30-vulnerabilities-used-by-conti-ransomware-affiliates","date":"2022-03-24"},{"url":"https://www.secuinfra.com/en/techtalk/whatever-floats-your-boat-bitter-apt-continues-to-target-bangladesh/","date":"2022-05-07"},{"url":"https://www.securin.io/articles/all-about-conti-ransomware/","date":"2022-06-29"}],"evidenceTotal":18,"provenance":"source"},"exploited":true,"otx":{"pulseCount":50,"pulses":[{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 29, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6ae20c1db17e7057ae7d9ad1","created":"2026-10-28"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 28, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6ae0ba7e0e2a97ff7b218819","created":"2026-10-27"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 27, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6adf68b85c3e852f3c111d18","created":"2026-10-26"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 24, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6adb740e397c3ad4799aa4cd","created":"2026-10-23"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 23, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6ada236fcfba2dfa730ea482","created":"2026-10-22"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 22, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6ad8d33a077cbb5cab524d80","created":"2026-10-21"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 21, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6ad78130c4d1ac2be83a8b6d","created":"2026-10-20"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 20, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6ad62f63c24a405a3423cc13","created":"2026-10-19"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 19, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6ad4dda174e5797d0bd238b7","created":"2026-10-18"},{"name":"Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 18, 2026","url":"https://otx.alienvault.com/pulse/6ad38c22e1848f8189d1c121","created":"2026-10-17"}],"provenance":"machine"},"cwes":[{"id":"CWE-787","name":"Out-of-bounds Write"}],"references":[{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/161880/Win32k-ConsoleControl-Offset-Confusion.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"]},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/166169/Win32k-ConsoleControl-Offset-Confusion-Privilege-Escalation.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"]},{"url":"https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2021-1732","tags":["Patch","Vendor Advisory"]},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/161880/Win32k-ConsoleControl-Offset-Confusion.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"]},{"url":"http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/166169/Win32k-ConsoleControl-Offset-Confusion-Privilege-Escalation.html","tags":["Exploit","Third Party Advisory","VDB Entry"]},{"url":"https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2021-1732","tags":["Patch","Vendor Advisory"]},{"url":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2021-1732","tags":["US Government Resource"]}],"techniques":[{"id":"T1068","name":"Exploitation for Privilege Escalation","tactics":["privilege-escalation"],"provenance":"ai","basis":"ai-mapping","bases":["ai-mapping"],"basisDetail":"claude-haiku-5-5: Local privilege escalation via kernel driver","mappingType":"exploitation_technique","evidence":[{"from":"description","quote":"Windows Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability","start":0,"end":51}],"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","confidence":"medium","confidenceNote":"AI-mapped from the description (quote-validated, not expert-reviewed)"}],"reports":[{"id":"SRC-c3138c42304530162a54","title":"MoustachedBouncer: Espionage against foreign diplomats in Belarus","publisher":"welivesecurity.com","url":"https://www.welivesecurity.com/es/investigaciones/espionaje-diplomaticos-extranjeros-bielorrusia/","date":null,"mentions":[{"quote":"Executes C:\\Users\\Public\\‌driverpack\\driverpackUpdate.exe (the plugin above) using elevated rights via CVE-2021-1732.","start":13811,"end":13928},{"quote":"Win64/Exploit.CVE-2021-1732.I","start":36907,"end":36936},{"quote":"LPE exploit for CVE-2021-1732.","start":36954,"end":36984},{"quote":"Disco has a plugin to exploit the CVE-2021-1732 local privilege escalation vulnerability.","start":41886,"end":41975}]}],"affected":[],"advisories":[],"euvd":{"id":"EUVD-2021-7196","url":"https://euvd.enisa.europa.eu/vulnerability/EUVD-2021-7196","exploited":true,"exploitedSince":"2021-11-03","provenance":"source"},"exploits":[],"exploitSources":{"pocGithub":{"count":11,"skipped":2,"earliest":"2021-03-05","earliestUrl":"https://github.com/KaLendsi/CVE-2021-1732-Exploit","repos":[{"name":"KaLendsi/CVE-2021-1732-Exploit","url":"https://github.com/KaLendsi/CVE-2021-1732-Exploit","stars":427,"created":"2021-03-05"},{"name":"po4sec/CVE-2021-1732","url":"https://github.com/po4sec/CVE-2021-1732","stars":65,"created":"2021-04-23"},{"name":"exploitblizzard/Windows-Privilege-Escalation-CVE-2021-1732","url":"https://github.com/exploitblizzard/Windows-Privilege-Escalation-CVE-2021-1732","stars":31,"created":"2021-04-25"},{"name":"fenalik/CVE-2021-1732","url":"https://github.com/fenalik/CVE-2021-1732","stars":15,"created":"2022-11-01"},{"name":"4dp/CVE-2021-1732","url":"https://github.com/4dp/CVE-2021-1732","stars":4,"created":"2023-03-09"}]},"metasploit":[{"name":"Win32k ConsoleControl Offset Confusion","module":"exploit/windows/local/cve_2022_21882_win32k","type":"exploit","disclosureDate":"2021-02-09","url":"https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/windows/local/cve_2022_21882_win32k.rb"}],"first":{"date":"2021-02-09","source":"Metasploit","url":"https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/windows/local/cve_2022_21882_win32k.rb"},"provenance":"source"},"exploitRefs":["http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/161880/Win32k-ConsoleControl-Offset-Confusion.html","http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/166169/Win32k-ConsoleControl-Offset-Confusion-Privilege-Escalation.html"],"flow":[{"stage":"exploitation","techniques":["T1068"],"provenance":"ai"}],"timeline":[{"date":"2020-12-10","kind":"exploited-reported","label":"Exploitation first reported (VulnCheck KEV 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unknown"}]},"lineage":{"familyId":"fam-class-microsoft-windows-cwe-787"}}