CVE-2021-40449 — Windows 7
HIGHCVE-2021-40449 is a high-severity (CVSS 7.8) Use After Free vulnerability in microsoft windows 7. It is in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2021-11-17) and has been used in ransomware campaigns — treat it as actively exploited and patch now. A fix is available — see the affected versions and patch details below.
Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Exploitation Status
Actively exploited in the wild
- Confirmed by CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2021-11-17 — including use in ransomware campaigns. Federal agencies were required to remediate by 2021-12-01.
- 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-2021-40449.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
CVE-2021-40449 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). In the shaded patch-first corner (EPSS 50%+, CVSS 7.0+).
Where this sits among everything scored
Of 395,249 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the 50–90% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.
Description
Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Affected Products
windows 7microsoftwindows 8.1microsoftwindows 10 20h2microsoftwindows 10 21h1microsoftwindows 10 1507microsoftwindows 10 1607microsoftResearch use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.
Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Detection & mitigation playbook
Vendor / applianceDetect
Inventory every microsoft windows 7 deployment and check each version against the affected-products list above.
Fix
Apply the microsoft windows 7 security patch or hotfix for CVE-2021-40449 on the affected version, following the vendor advisory for your exact build.
Workarounds
Constrain what reaches the vulnerable code: limit the size and shape of untrusted input, isolate the affected component in a sandboxed or least-privileged process, and enable the platform's memory-safety mitigations (ASLR, stack protector, hardened allocator) so an out-of-bounds access is more likely to fail closed than to be exploitable. Alongside that, restrict the management interface to trusted networks and apply the vendor's recommended configuration mitigations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2021-40449 being exploited in your environment?
Detect and block the exploit chain at execution, on systems you cannot patch yet.