Cyber Resilience

CVE-2022-34721

Microsoft Windows 10 1607 … 21h2

High EPSS
Published
13 September 2022
Modified
21 November 2024
CVSS Score v3.1 9.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.76 99.5th percentile
Risk Priority 97 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2022-34721 is a critical-severity an unspecified weakness vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 10. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, ranked in the top 0.5% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SC-7 (Boundary Protection) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

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-2022-34721 is a remote code execution vulnerability in the Windows Internet Key Exchange (IKE) Protocol Extensions. It affects multiple versions of Windows that implement IKE for IPsec VPN connections and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.8, reflecting network-accessible attack conditions with no required privileges or user interaction and full impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

An unauthenticated attacker can send specially crafted IKE messages over the network to trigger the flaw, resulting in arbitrary code execution with the privileges of the IKE service and potential full system compromise.

Microsoft’s advisory at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2022-34721 directs administrators to install the security updates released on 13 September 2022 for the affected Windows releases; no workarounds are listed as sufficient.

The EPSS score reached a peak of 0.2748 and currently stands at 0.2660, indicating sustained moderate exploitation interest after disclosure.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Windows Internet Key Exchange (IKE) Protocol Extensions Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

CWE(s)
NVD-CWE-noinfo

Related Threats

Likely ATT&CK TechniquesAI

Techniques this vulnerability likely enables, inferred from its description, weakness type, and attributed-actor tradecraft. Confidence is per-technique.

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Accessconfidence: HIGH
Unauthenticated network attack against a public-facing IKE/IPsec service directly matches exploitation of a remotely reachable application.
attack.mitre.org →
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalationconfidence: HIGH
Arbitrary code execution in the IKE service yields privilege escalation to SYSTEM privileges.
attack.mitre.org →
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movementconfidence: MEDIUM
Remote exploitation of the IKE service can be leveraged for lateral movement across VPN-connected hosts.
attack.mitre.org →
inferred from description · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-21760Same product: Microsoft Windows 10
CVE-2023-21765Same product: Microsoft Windows 10
CVE-2023-21746Same product: Microsoft Windows 10
CVE-2022-26809Same product: Microsoft Windows 10
CVE-2023-21757Same product: Microsoft Windows 10
CVE-2023-21776Same product: Microsoft Windows 10
CVE-2022-41076Same product: Microsoft Windows 10
CVE-2022-21972Same product: Microsoft Windows 10
CVE-2022-37958Same product: Microsoft Windows 10
CVE-2023-21767Same product: Microsoft Windows 10

Affected Assets

microsoft
windows 10
1607, 1809, 20h2, 21h1, 21h2
microsoft
windows 11
all versions
microsoft
windows 7
all versions
microsoft
windows 8.1
all versions
microsoft
windows rt 8.1
all versions
microsoft
windows server 2008
all versions, r2
microsoft
windows server 2012
all versions, r2
microsoft
windows server 2016
all versions
microsoft
windows server 2019
all versions
microsoft
windows server 2022
all versions

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

—

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SI-2 Flaw Remediation good match
prevent

Directly requires installation of the vendor security updates that close the IKE RCE flaw before exploitation can occur.

SC-7 Boundary Protection good match
prevent

Boundary-protection rules can block unauthenticated IKE traffic from reaching the vulnerable service on untrusted networks.

AC-17 Remote Access partial match
prevent

Enforces authorization and connection restrictions on remote-access mechanisms that rely on the affected IKE/IPsec implementation.

References