Patchfirst
CVE-2015-1769 KEVPublic exploit Medium · 6.6 EPSS 4.1%

Microsoft Windows Mount Manager Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

Microsoft · Windows

Summary

The Windows Mount Manager component, present in Microsoft Windows Vista SP2 through Windows 10 including Server 2008 and 2012 editions, mishandles symbolic links. An attacker with physical proximity to the machine can execute arbitrary code by connecting a crafted USB device.

Official description · NVD

Mount Manager in Microsoft Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 SP2 and R2 SP1, Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 Gold and R2, Windows RT Gold and 8.1, and Windows 10 mishandles symlinks, which allows physically proximate attackers to execute arbitrary code by connecting a crafted USB device, aka "Mount Manager Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability."

Breakdown
69.6 / 100
Exploited
Yes, in CISA KEV
Reports
1
Tactics
2/15

How an attack unfolds

Based on mappings. Select a step to see the evidence.
  1. How attackers get in

  2. What can follow

First seen exploited 4 days before it was disclosed. Public exploit code (PoC-in-GitHub) appeared 6 years after disclosure.

  1. First seen exploitedVulnCheck KEV evidence4 days before
  2. Disclosedday 0
  3. Public exploit codePoC-in-GitHub+6 yrs
  4. Added to CISA KEVEU database agrees+7 yrs

CISA KEV listing is when exploitation was confirmed, not necessarily the first attack.

techniques

2 , grouped by in kill-chain order, 2 cited passages 11

Initial AccessTA0001

Hardware Additions T1200 Medium
AI mapping from the description · how it is exploited

Physical USB device connection is the entry vector

physically proximate attackers to execute arbitrary code by connecting a crafted USB device
From the official description (NVD) Original (opens in a new tab) ↗

Privilege EscalationTA0004

Exploitation for Privilege Escalation T1068 Medium
MITRE CTID mapping of the CVE · uncategorised
Lower-confidence links (1)

These come from early or generic mappings, text matching, or contradict this CVE’s details (for example a public-facing technique on a bug that needs a user to open a file). Shown for completeness.

  • Replication Through Removable MediaT1091 CTID attack_to_cve Phase 1 "Uncategorized" mapping (not staged by impact)

Detection

0 rules for this CVE · 34 general rules for its techniques

Rules for this CVE

0 that reference CVE-2015-1769 directly.

CVE-specific rules are not available in this build. Search SigmaHQ ↗

General rules for this CVE’s techniques

These detect the technique in general, not this specific vulnerability.

Sigma rules © SigmaHQ, Detection Rule License 1.1; linked, not reproduced.

What security researchers reported

Named in 1 threat report
1 reportMicrosoft

Reports are matched by finding the exact id CVE-2015-1769 in their text; nobody has reviewed the match. One passage is shown per report, at most 320 characters, linked to the original.

Also mentioned in 50 community threat pulses (AlienVault OTX)

Weaker evidence

Pulses are indicator collections that anyone can publish. A mention is not confirmation of exploitation.

References

4 links, grouped by NVD tag (3 duplicates merged)
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