KEV Intelligence

Vulnerability report

Exploited in the wild Confirmed confidence In CISA KEV

CVE-2018-8453

Windows 7

Microsoft / Windows 7 · 32-bit Systems Service Pack 1

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Severity
CVSS 7.8 · High
Confidence
Confirmed
Exploit status
Exploited in the wild
EPSS
70.0%
First observed
—
Last observed
—

Decision summary

What security teams need to know first

Direct answers before the deeper technical record.

What it is

CVE-2018-8453 is an unauthenticated vulnerability affecting Microsoft Windows 7 and 10 other products. An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in Windows when the Win32k component fails to properly handle...

Is it exploited?

Yes. KEV Intelligence tracks this CVE as a known exploited vulnerability. Confidence is confirmed.

Who is affected?

Microsoft / Windows 7 32-bit systems service pack 1.

What should we do?

Prioritize remediation. Validate affected assets and apply vendor fixes on an accelerated timeline.

Overview

Windows 7

An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in Windows when the Win32k component fails to properly handle objects in memory, aka "Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability." This affects Windows 7, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows RT 8.1, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2012, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 10, Windows 10 Servers.

Vendor Product Affected Status
Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1803 for x64-based Systems Affected
Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1809 for 32-bit Systems Affected
Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1809 for x64-based Systems Affected
Microsoft Windows 10 x64-based Systems Affected
Microsoft Windows 10 Servers version 1709 (Server Core Installation) Affected
Microsoft Windows 10 Servers version 1803 (Server Core Installation) Affected
Published
10 Oct 2018
Exploitation Reported
21 Jan 2022
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required

Tags

cisa windows ransomware malware microsoft metasploit

CVE References

Exploitation evidence

Why KEV Intelligence marks this CVE as exploited

Third-party attestation and first-party sensor observation are shown separately so teams can judge the evidence chain.

Exploited in the wild

CISA

Recorded 21 Jan 2022

Independent exploitation attestation added to the KEV Intelligence record.

Used in malware

CISA

Recorded 21 Jan 2022

Malware families have been linked to exploitation of this CVE.

Proof of concept available

GitHub

Recorded 08 Jul 2019

Public scanner or PoC coverage increases practical exploitability.

Known exploited vulnerability sources

Per-source evidence links for KEV attestations are available through the KEV Intelligence Pro API.

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Source Added
CISA First 2022-01-21 00:00 UTC
Tenable Blog 2026-06-02 14:20 UTC
CVE 2026-08-13 04:20 UTC

Detection

Operational artifacts and observed signals

Make the evidence actionable in scanner, SOC, and edge-control workflows.

Observed signals

Request targets
0
User-Agents
0

Raw values available in Pro and Enterprise.

Virtual patch status

No KEV Intelligence virtual patch is currently available. Future rules ship for ModSecurity, Cloudflare, and AWS WAF.

Learn about virtual patches →

Scanner Artifacts

Scanner and exploit-framework references linked to this CVE.

Scanner Reference Detected
Metasploit https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/windows/local/cve_2018_8453_win32k_priv_esc.rb 28 Apr 2025

Risk and context

Severity, weaknesses, and research context

CVSS v3.1

7.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS

70.0%

Recent mention · Tenable Blog

Inside the customer environment: Where threat actors, vulnerabilities, and exposed assets intersect

Tenable Research has developed a graph-based model linking 600+ threat groups to real-world customer exposures. It reveals which vulnerabilities sit at the intersection of severity, active exploitation, and organizational risk.Key takeawaysThe "patch everything" strategy is...

Read full advisory

All CVSS Scores

CVSS v3.1 7.8 High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS v2.0 7.2 High

AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Potential Proof of Concepts

These PoCs are unverified and could contain malware. Use at your own risk.

cve_2018_8453_win32k_priv_esc

metasploit · Created Unknown

Metasploit module for CVE-2018-8453

Timeline

From disclosure to observed exploitation

  1. KEV confirmed by CVE

    Exploitation attested by an external source

  2. KEV confirmed by Tenable Blog

    Exploitation attested by an external source

  3. Metasploit module available

    Exploit module available

  4. Public PoC available

    Public proof-of-concept code published

  5. Added to CISA KEV

    Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

  6. First public exploitation report

    Exploit observed in malware

  7. CVE published

    Vulnerability disclosed publicly

  8. CVE ID reserved

    Identifier reserved by the CNA

Pro API

Automate this intelligence

Confidence, exploit status, sensor telemetry, PoCs, scanner integrations, mentions, and tags are available programmatically for VM, SOC, and CTI workflows.

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  • Evidence confidence and provenance
  • First-party sensor telemetry
  • PoC and scanner references
  • Affected versions and enrichment
  • Automation-ready JSON delivery

GET /api/v2/pro/kevs/CVE-2018-8453

Free JSON includes basic KEV fields 
{
  "cve_id": "CVE-2018-8453",
  "confidence": "Confirmed",
  "cvss_score": 7.8,
  "cvss_estimated": false,
  "epss_score": 0.70042,
  "exploit_status": {
    "exploited_in_the_wild": true,
    "active_exploitation_observed": false
  },
  "sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 0, "sensors": 0 }
}

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