# CVE-2024-38202: Windows Update Stack Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

CVE-2024-38202 is fixed in 23 products on 1 platform, first by KB5044293, released October 8, 2024. It is not reported as exploited. Patch Radar priority: High.

- Web page: https://patchblox.com/security/cve/CVE-2024-38202
- Priority: High
- CVSS: 7.3 (Important)
- EPSS: 0.0168
- CISA KEV: not listed
- Exploited (vendor report): no
- Publicly disclosed: yes
- Vendor exploitability assessment: Exploitation Less Likely
- Published: Aug 7, 2024
- Weakness: Improper Access Control
- Vendor advisory: https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2024-38202

## Description

<h1 id="summary">Summary</h1> <p>Microsoft was notified that an elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in Windows Update, potentially enabling an attacker with basic user privileges to reintroduce previously mitigated vulnerabilities or circumvent some features of Virtualization Based Security (VBS). However, an attacker attempting to exploit this vulnerability requires additional interaction by a privileged user to be successful.</p> <p>Microsoft has developed a security update to mitigate this threat which was made available October 08, 2024 and is provided in the Security Updates table of this CVE for customers to download. <strong>Note:</strong> Depending on your version of Windows, additional steps may be required to update Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) to be protected from this vulnerability. Please refer to the FAQ section for more information. Guidance for customers who cannot immediately implement the update is provided in the <strong>Recommended Actions</strong> section of this CVE to help reduce the risks associated with this vulnerability and to protect their systems.</p> <p>If there are any further updates regarding mitigations for this vulnerability, this CVE will be updated and customers will be notified. We highly encourage customers to <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/msrc/technical-security-notifications?rtc=1">subscribe</a> to Security Update Guide notifications to receive an alert if an update occurs.</p> <h2 id="details">Details</h2> <p>A security researcher informed Microsoft of an elevation of privilege vulnerability in Windows Update potentially enabling an attacker with basic user privileges to reintroduce previously mitigated vulnerabilities or circumvent some features of VBS. For exploitation to succeed, an attacker must trick or convince an Administrator or a user with delegated permissions into performing a system restore which inadvertently triggers the vulnerability.</p> <p>Microsoft has developed a security update to mitigate this threat which was made available October 08, 2024 and is provided in the Security Updates table of this CVE for customers to download. <strong>Note:</strong> Depending on your version of Windows, additional steps may be required to update Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) to be protected from this vulnerability. Please refer to the FAQ section for more information. Guidance for customers who cannot immediately implement the update is provided in the <strong>Recommended Actions</strong> section of this CVE to help reduce the risks associated with this vulnerability and to protect their systems.</p> <p>If there are any further updates regarding mitigations for this vulnerability, this CVE will be updated and customers will be notified. We highly encourage customers to <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/msrc/technical-security-notifications?rtc=1">subscribe</a> to Security Update Guide notifications to receive an alert if an update occurs.</p> <p>Microsoft is not aware of any attempts to exploit this vulnerability. However, a public presentation regarding this vulnerability was hosted at BlackHat on August 7, 2024. The presentation was appropriately coordinated with Microsoft but may change the threat landscape. Customers concerned with these risks should reference the guidance provided in the <strong>Recommended Actions</strong> section to protect their systems.</p> <h2 id="recommended-actions">Recommended Actions</h2> <p>The following recommendations do not mitigate the vulnerability but can be used to reduce the risk of exploitation until the security update is available.</p> <ul> <li><p>Configure “Audit Object Access” settings to monitor attempts to access files, such as handle creation, read / write operations, or modifications to security descriptors.</p> <ul> <li><a href="https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-10/security/threat-protection/auditing/audit-file-system">Audit File System - Windows 10 | Microsoft Learn</a></li> <li><a href="https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-10/security/threat-protection/auditing/apply-a-basic-audit-policy-on-a-file-or-folder">Apply a basic audit policy on a file or folder - Windows 10 | Microsoft Learn</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><p>Audit users with permission to perform Update and Restore operations to ensure only the appropriate users can perform these operations.</p> <ul> <li><a href="https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-10/security/threat-protection/security-policy-settings/audit-audit-the-use-of-backup-and-restore-privilege">Audit: Audit the use of Backup and Restore privilege (Windows 10) - Windows 10 | Microsoft Learn</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><p>Implement an Access Control List or Discretionary Access Control Lists to restrict the access or modification of Update files and perform Restore operations to appropriate users, for example administrators only.</p> <ul> <li><a href="https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-10/security/threat-protection/auditing/audit-sensitive-privilege-use">Access Control overview | Microsoft Learn</a></li> <li><a href="https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/secbp/creating-a-dacl">Discretionary Access Control Lists (DACL)</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><p>Auditing sensitive privileges used to identify access, modification, or replacement of Update related files could help indicate attempts to exploit this vulnerability.</p> <ul> <li><a href="https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-10/security/threat-protection/auditing/audit-sensitive-privilege-use">Audit Sensitive Privilege Use - Windows 10 | Microsoft Learn</a></li> </ul> </li> </ul>

## Where it's fixed

| Platform | Product | Fixed in | Fix | Released |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft | Windows 10 Version 1607 for 32-bit Systems | 14393.7428 | [KB5044293](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/microsoft/kb5044293.md) | Oct 8, 2024 |
| Microsoft | Windows 10 Version 1607 for x64-based Systems | 14393.7428 | [KB5044293](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/microsoft/kb5044293.md) | Oct 8, 2024 |
| Microsoft | Windows 10 Version 1809 for 32-bit Systems | 17763.6414 | [KB5044277](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/microsoft/kb5044277.md) | Oct 8, 2024 |
| Microsoft | Windows 10 Version 1809 for x64-based Systems | 17763.6414 | [KB5044277](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/microsoft/kb5044277.md) | Oct 8, 2024 |
| Microsoft | Windows 10 Version 21H2 for 32-bit Systems |  | [KB5044273](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/microsoft/kb5044273.md) | Oct 8, 2024 |
| Microsoft | Windows 10 Version 21H2 for ARM64-based Systems |  | [KB5044273](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/microsoft/kb5044273.md) | Oct 8, 2024 |
| Microsoft | Windows 10 Version 21H2 for x64-based Systems |  | [KB5044273](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/microsoft/kb5044273.md) | Oct 8, 2024 |
| Microsoft | Windows 10 Version 22H2 for 32-bit Systems |  | [KB5044273](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/microsoft/kb5044273.md) | Oct 8, 2024 |
| Microsoft | Windows 10 Version 22H2 for ARM64-based Systems |  | [KB5044273](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/microsoft/kb5044273.md) | Oct 8, 2024 |
| Microsoft | Windows 10 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems |  | [KB5044273](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/microsoft/kb5044273.md) | Oct 8, 2024 |
| Microsoft | Windows 11 Version 22H2 for ARM64-based Systems |  | [KB5044285](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/microsoft/kb5044285.md) | Oct 8, 2024 |
| Microsoft | Windows 11 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems |  | [KB5044285](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/microsoft/kb5044285.md) | Oct 8, 2024 |
| Microsoft | Windows 11 Version 23H2 for ARM64-based Systems |  | [KB5044285](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/microsoft/kb5044285.md) | Oct 8, 2024 |
| Microsoft | Windows 11 Version 23H2 for x64-based Systems |  | [KB5044285](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/microsoft/kb5044285.md) | Oct 8, 2024 |
| Microsoft | Windows 11 version 21H2 for ARM64-based Systems | 22000.3260 | [KB5044280](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/microsoft/kb5044280.md) | Oct 8, 2024 |
| Microsoft | Windows 11 version 21H2 for x64-based Systems | 22000.3260 | [KB5044280](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/microsoft/kb5044280.md) | Oct 8, 2024 |
| Microsoft | Windows Server 2016 | 14393.7428 | [KB5044293](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/microsoft/kb5044293.md) | Oct 8, 2024 |
| Microsoft | Windows Server 2016 (Server Core installation) | 14393.7428 | [KB5044293](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/microsoft/kb5044293.md) | Oct 8, 2024 |
| Microsoft | Windows Server 2019 | 17763.6414 | [KB5044277](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/microsoft/kb5044277.md) | Oct 8, 2024 |
| Microsoft | Windows Server 2019 (Server Core installation) | 17763.6414 | [KB5044277](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/microsoft/kb5044277.md) | Oct 8, 2024 |
| Microsoft | Windows Server 2022 | 20348.2762 | [KB5044281](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/microsoft/kb5044281.md) | Oct 8, 2024 |
| Microsoft | Windows Server 2022 (Server Core installation) | 20348.2762 | [KB5044281](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/microsoft/kb5044281.md) | Oct 8, 2024 |
| Microsoft | Windows Server 2022, 23H2 Edition (Server Core installation) | 25398.1189 | [KB5044288](https://patchblox.com/security/data/fix/microsoft/kb5044288.md) | Oct 8, 2024 |

---

Data as of 2026-11-08T13:06:02Z UTC. Source: Patchblox Patch Radar (https://patchblox.com/security/patch-radar). Patchblox finds out-of-date software on Windows, macOS and Linux and updates it through release rings: https://patchblox.com/demo

Free to use with attribution: show "Data: Patchblox Patch Radar" with a link to https://patchblox.com/security/patch-radar. Terms, including what needs a written agreement: https://patchblox.com/security/patch-radar/use-the-data

Product names, logos and trademarks shown on Patch Radar belong to their respective owners. They are used only to identify the software each security fix applies to and to help readers find their platform. Their use does not imply any affiliation with, or endorsement by, those owners, and Patchblox is not affiliated with any of them.