Security Resilience

CVE-2022-21971

Memory Safety in Microsoft Windows 10 1809 ≤ 10.0.17763.2565

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedMemory Safety
Published
09 February 2022
Modified
30 October 2025
KEV Added
18 August 2022
Patch / advisory
View 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 0.54 99th 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-2022-21971 is a high-severity Access of Uninitialized Pointer (CWE-824) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 10 1809. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Steganography (T1001.002); ranked in the top 1% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

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

CVE-2022-21971 is a remote code execution vulnerability in the Windows Runtime component, present across multiple versions of Microsoft Windows. It stems from access of an uninitialized pointer (CWE-824) and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 7.8, reflecting local attack vector, low complexity, no required privileges, and required user interaction that nonetheless yields high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

An attacker with the ability to supply a malicious file or trigger specific local actions can exploit the flaw to execute arbitrary code in the context of the logged-on user, enabling full compromise of the affected system without additional authentication.

Microsoft security updates addressing the issue are detailed in the vendor advisory, while CISA includes CVE-2022-21971 in its catalog of known exploited vulnerabilities. The associated EPSS score has remained at a sustained high of 0.8779, indicating ongoing exploitation interest after public disclosure.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Windows Runtime Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

CWE(s)
CWE-824
KEV Date Added
18 August 2022

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001.002 Steganography Command And Control
Adversaries may use steganographic techniques to hide command and control traffic to make detection efforts more difficult.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.003 NTDS Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access or create a copy of the Active Directory domain database in order to steal credential information, as well as obtain other information about domain members such as devices, users, and access rights.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.004 LSA Secrets Credential Access
Adversaries with SYSTEM access to a host may attempt to access Local Security Authority (LSA) secrets, which can contain a variety of different credential materials, such as credentials for service accounts.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.006 DCSync Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access credentials and other sensitive information by abusing a Windows Domain Controller's application programming interface (API)(Citation: Microsoft DRSR Dec 2017) (Citation: Microsoft GetNCCChanges) (Citati…
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.007 Proc Filesystem Credential Access
Adversaries may gather credentials from the proc filesystem or `/proc`.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.008 /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to dump the contents of <code>/etc/passwd</code> and <code>/etc/shadow</code> to enable offline password cracking.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2022-21882Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809both on KEV
CVE-2022-24521Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809both on KEV
CVE-2015-1770Same vendor: Microsoftboth on KEV
CVE-2022-41125Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809both on KEV
CVE-2022-37969Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809both on KEV
CVE-2021-34486Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809both on KEV
CVE-2022-41128Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809both on KEV
CVE-2022-41073Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809both on KEV
CVE-2021-1732Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809both on KEV
CVE-2021-28310Same product: Microsoft Windows 10 1809both on KEV

Affected Assets

microsoft
windows 10 1809
≤ 10.0.17763.2565
microsoft
windows 10 1909
≤ 10.0.18363.2094
microsoft
windows 10 20h2
≤ 10.0.19042.1526
microsoft
windows 10 21h1
≤ 10.0.19043.1526
microsoft
windows 10 21h2
≤ 10.0.19044.1526
microsoft
windows 11 21h2
≤ 10.0.22000.493
microsoft
windows server 2019
≤ 10.0.17763.2565
microsoft
windows server 2022
≤ 10.0.20348.524
microsoft
windows server 20h2
≤ 10.0.19042.1526

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

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

PR.PS-06 partial match
blocks

Secure SDLC practices directly prevent uninitialized pointer bugs via coding standards, analysis, and reviews, but eliminating this single weakness only partially fulfills the broader control.

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.

A.5.14 Information transfer partial match
removes
A.5.15 Access control partial match
removes
A.5.16 Identity management partial match
removes
A.5.17 Authentication information partial match
removes
A.5.18 Access rights partial match
removes
A.5.32 Intellectual property rights partial match
removes

References