CVE-2022-44698
Published: 13 December 2022
Summary
CVE-2022-44698 is a medium-severity an unspecified weakness vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 10 1607. Its CVSS base score is 5.4 (Medium).
Operationally, ranked in the top 1.4% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 SI-2 (Flaw Remediation) and SI-3 (Malicious Code Protection).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2022-44698 is a security feature bypass vulnerability affecting the Windows SmartScreen component. The flaw carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 5.4 and allows an attacker to circumvent the reputation-based warnings that SmartScreen normally displays for untrusted downloads or web content.
An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit the issue by convincing a user to open a malicious file or visit a crafted URL, after which SmartScreen protections are bypassed. Successful exploitation results in limited impact to integrity and availability without requiring elevated privileges.
Microsoft has published security updates addressing the vulnerability through its update guide, while CISA includes CVE-2022-44698 in its catalog of known exploited vulnerabilities, indicating confirmed in-the-wild use and underscoring the need for prompt patching. The associated EPSS score currently stands at 0.6722 after reaching a peak of 0.7222, reflecting sustained exploitation interest following disclosure.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2022-47632
Vulnerability details
Windows SmartScreen Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability
- CWE(s)
- KEV Date Added
- 13 December 2022
Related Threats
No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly enforces malicious code protection mechanisms whose bypass is the root cause of CVE-2022-44698.
Requires timely application of the vendor patch that closes the SmartScreen bypass flaw.
Mandates integrity verification of downloaded files and executables, compensating for a bypassed SmartScreen check.