KEV Intelligence

Vulnerability report

Exploited in the wild Confirmed confidence In CISA KEV

CVE-2018-8639

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
22.2%
First observed
—
Last observed
—

Decision summary

What security teams need to know first

Direct answers before the deeper technical record.

What it is

CVE-2018-8639 is a 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 objects in memory, aka...

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.

This CVE ID is unique from CVE-2018-8641.

Vendor Product Affected Status
Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1803 for 32-bit Systems Affected
Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1803 for ARM64-based Systems Affected
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 ARM64-based 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
12 Dec 2018
Exploitation Reported
03 Mar 2025
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None

Tags

microsoft malware cisa windows ransomware nessus_scanner

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 03 Mar 2025

Independent exploitation attestation added to the KEV Intelligence record.

Used in malware

CISA

Recorded 03 Mar 2025

Malware families have been linked to exploitation of this CVE.

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 2025-03-03 00:00 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
Nessus https://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/119591 02 Jun 2025

Risk and context

Severity, weaknesses, and research context

CVSS v3.1

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

EPSS

22.2%

Weaknesses

Improper Resource Shutdown or Release CWE-404

All CVSS Scores

CVSS v3.1 7.8 High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/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

Timeline

From disclosure to observed exploitation

  1. Nessus plugin available

    Scanner coverage available

  2. Added to CISA KEV

    Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

  3. First public exploitation report

    Exploit observed in malware

  4. CVE published

    Vulnerability disclosed publicly

  5. 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-2018-8639

Free JSON includes basic KEV fields 
{
  "cve_id": "CVE-2018-8639",
  "confidence": "Confirmed",
  "cvss_score": 7.8,
  "cvss_estimated": false,
  "epss_score": 0.22179,
  "exploit_status": {
    "exploited_in_the_wild": true,
    "active_exploitation_observed": false
  },
  "sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 0, "sensors": 0 }
}

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