Security Resilience

CVE-2017-0101

Memory Safety in Microsoft Windows 7

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedPublic PoCRansomware-linkedMemory Safety
Published
17 March 2017
Modified
22 April 2026
KEV Added
15 March 2022
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.57 99.1th percentile
Risk Priority 83 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2017-0101 is a high-severity Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer (CWE-119) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 7. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, ranked in the top 0.9% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

The vulnerability is an elevation of privilege flaw, tracked as CVE-2017-0101, residing in the kernel-mode drivers of the Transaction Manager component. It affects Microsoft Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 SP2 and R2, Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 Gold and R2, Windows RT 8.1, Windows 10 Gold/1511/1607, and Windows Server 2016. The issue is classified under CWE-119 and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 7.8.

Local attackers can exploit the flaw by running a specially crafted application on an affected system, enabling them to gain elevated privileges without requiring prior authentication or user interaction beyond executing the application.

The Microsoft Security Response Center advisory at https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2017-0101 supplies official guidance and patches. Public exploit code is available via Exploit-DB entry 44479, indicating that proof-of-concept material has been released.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

The kernel-mode drivers in Transaction Manager in Microsoft Windows Vista SP2; Windows Server 2008 SP2 and R2; Windows 7 SP1; Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 Gold and R2, Windows RT 8.1; Windows 10 Gold, 1511, and 1607; and Windows Server…

more

2016 allow local users to gain privileges via a crafted application, aka "Windows Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability."

CWE(s)
KEV Date Added
15 March 2022

Related Threats

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2017-0089Same product: Microsoft Windows 7
CVE-2016-0040Same product: Microsoft Windows 7both on KEV
CVE-2013-3660Same product: Microsoft Windows 7both on KEV
CVE-2014-6332Same product: Microsoft Windows 7both on KEV
CVE-2015-2546Same product: Microsoft Windows 7both on KEV
CVE-2017-0022Same product: Microsoft Windows 7both on KEV
CVE-2015-1701Same product: Microsoft Windows 7both on KEV
CVE-2019-0808Same product: Microsoft Windows 7both on KEV
CVE-2019-1132Same product: Microsoft Windows 7both on KEV
CVE-2018-8589Same product: Microsoft Windows 7both on KEV

Affected Assets

microsoft
windows 7
all versions
microsoft
windows server 2008
all versions
microsoft
windows vista
all versions

Mitigating Controls

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

addresses: CWE-119

Ongoing control assessments and code testing (static/dynamic analysis, fuzzing) surface memory buffer restriction failures, which are then remediated before release.

addresses: CWE-119

Managed runtimes used by platform-independent applications (e.g., JVM, CLR) enforce memory safety, preventing most buffer overflows that require direct memory manipulation.

addresses: CWE-119

Memory protections (e.g., W^X, ASLR) make exploitation of buffer-boundary violations far harder to turn into code execution.

addresses: CWE-119

Detects exploitation attempts that produce memory corruption, crashes, or anomalous behavior.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

blocks

A.8.25 mandates secure SDLC practices (secure coding guidelines, security requirements, testing including code scans and penetration tests, developer training) that reach buffer management and can stop many buffer overruns from reaching production, but leaves a bounded remainder (e.g. flaws in non-software components, incomplete enforcement of guidelines, or post-deployment changes)

blocks

Application security requirements can specify memory-safety rules, but do not prescribe implementation details.

blocks

A.8.27 mandates security-by-design principles (e.g. least privilege, fail securely, distrust external input, hardening) plus design reviews that can catch and stop buffer-boundary errors before they reach code, but this is only one minority slice of CWE-119's broad surface (language-specific flaws, unsafe library use, compiler/runtime mitigations, and post-deployment instances remain outside its direct scope).

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe buffer operations, directly eliminating CWE-119.

finds

Security testing in development catches out-of-bounds accesses before release, covering most instances of the weakness.

Hardening callouts derived

DISA STIG baselines are authored against specific weaknesses. Where this CVE cites a broad weakness class, the mapping is not asserted at that abstraction (owner ruling, 2026-09-25: grade only at Base and below), so no rule is shown here rather than a rule shown against the wrong grain.

  • No fine-grained STIG row for CWE-119, a class-level weakness. Rules are authored against its narrower children: CWE-823.

References