Applied Cybernetics Group
Threat intel → detection pipeline
Friday, September 18, 2026
Data as of 13:09 UTC

known ransomware use

Microsoft Win32k Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

Added to KEV
2022-03-15
Federal due date
2022-04-05
Vendor
Microsoft
Product
Win32k
EPSS
99.4th percentile (score 0.734, as of 2026-09-16)
NVD CVSS v3.1
7 (HIGH)
Ransomware use
Known
Upstream
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-8120

CISA short description

A privilege escalation vulnerability exists in Windows when the Win32k component fails to properly handle objects in memory.

Required action

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

NVD description

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 Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2. This CVE ID is unique from CVE-2018-8124, CVE-2018-8164, CVE-2018-8166.

EPSS percentile is the FIRST.org exploit-probability ranking as of the date noted above; it moves daily. CVSS reflects NVD's analysis at time of publication.