CVE-2016-0099 — Windows 7
HIGHCVE-2016-0099 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.8) CWE-120 vulnerability in microsoft windows 7. It is in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-03-03) and has been used in ransomware campaigns — treat it as actively exploited and patch now. No vendor fix is recorded yet; mitigation options are listed below.
The Secondary Logon Service in Microsoft Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 SP2 and R2 SP1, Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 Gold and R2, Windows RT 8.1, and Windows…
Exploitation Status
Actively exploited in the wild
- Confirmed by CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2022-03-03 — including use in ransomware campaigns. Federal agencies were required to remediate by 2022-03-24.
- A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA (KEV catalog and SSVC triage) for CVE-2016-0099.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2016-0099 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 394,803 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the 10–50% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
Description
The Secondary Logon Service in Microsoft Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 SP2 and R2 SP1, Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 Gold and R2, Windows RT 8.1, and Windows 10 Gold and 1511 does not properly process request handles, which allows local users to gain privileges via a crafted application, aka "Secondary Logon Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability."
Affected Products
windows 7microsoftwindows 8.1microsoftwindows 10 1507microsoftwindows 10 1511microsoftwindows server 2008microsoftwindows server 2012microsoftResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Microsoft Windows 7 < 10 / 2008 < 2012 R2 (x86/x64) - Local Privilege Escalation (MS16-032) (PowerShell)
by b33f · Apr 21, 2016
Microsoft Windows 7 < 10 / 2008 < 2012 (x86/x64) - Local Privilege Escalation (MS16-032)
by fdiskyou · Apr 25, 2016
Microsoft Windows 7 < 10 / 2008 < 2012 (x86/x64) - Secondary Logon Handle Privilege Escalation (MS16-032) (Metasploit)
by Metasploit · Jul 13, 2016
Microsoft Windows 8.1/10 (x86) - Secondary Logon Standard Handles Missing Sanitization Privilege Escalation (MS16-032)
by Google Security Research · Mar 21, 2016
Detection & mitigation playbook
Vendor / applianceDetect
Inventory every microsoft windows 7 deployment and check each version against the affected-products list above.
Remediation status
No patch has shipped for CVE-2016-0099 yet — track the microsoft windows 7 advisory for a fixed release and apply the workarounds below in the meantime.
Mitigate without a patch
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands. Alongside that, restrict the management interface to trusted networks and apply the vendor's recommended configuration mitigations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2016-0099 being exploited in your environment?
Detect and block the exploit chain at execution, on systems you cannot patch yet.