Cyber Resilience

CVE-2024-38074

Memory Safety in Microsoft Windows Server 2012 r2

Published
09 July 2024
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
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 0.022 81th percentile
Risk Priority 80 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2024-38074 is a critical-severity Wrap or Wraparound (CWE-191) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows Server 2012. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 19% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — 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.

Windows Remote Desktop Licensing Service contains a remote code execution vulnerability tracked as CVE-2024-38074. The flaw received a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.8 and is associated with CWE-191. It affects the licensing service component responsible for managing Remote Desktop client access licenses on Windows systems.

An unauthenticated attacker can exploit the issue over the network without user interaction. Successful exploitation grants the ability to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the service, resulting in full impact to confidentiality, integrity, and availability on the target host.

Microsoft has published guidance for the vulnerability through its Security Response Center at the listed advisory URLs, directing administrators to available patches and configuration updates. The associated EPSS score has remained near 0.09 with only minor fluctuation since disclosure and does not indicate emerging exploitation activity.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Windows Remote Desktop Licensing Service Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-30011Same product: Microsoft Windows Server 2012
CVE-2023-28247Same product: Microsoft Windows Server 2012
CVE-2024-43549Same product: Microsoft Windows Server 2008
CVE-2024-38212Same product: Microsoft Windows Server 2008
CVE-2024-20655Same product: Microsoft Windows Server 2008
CVE-2024-43589Same product: Microsoft Windows Server 2008
CVE-2024-20662Same product: Microsoft Windows Server 2008
CVE-2024-38077Same product: Microsoft Windows Server 2008
CVE-2024-43608Same product: Microsoft Windows Server 2008
CVE-2024-26195Same product: Microsoft Windows Server 2008

Affected Assets

microsoft
windows server 2008
r2
microsoft
windows server 2012
all versions, r2
microsoft
windows server 2016
≤ 10.0.14393.7159
microsoft
windows server 2019
≤ 10.0.17763.6054
microsoft
windows server 2022
≤ 10.0.20348.2582
microsoft
windows server 2022 23h2
≤ 10.0.25398.1009

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and static/dynamic analysis directly find integer underflow defects before code is released.

Security engineering principles require use of safe arithmetic constructs or language features that structurally eliminate integer underflow during subtraction.

Input validation can reject or sanitize values that would cause a subtraction to underflow the representable range.

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 full match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly prevent integer underflow defects via input validation, bounds checking, and static analysis.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning and code analysis can surface underflow flaws after they are introduced.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching can remediate known underflow bugs once they are discovered in deployed software.

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.

finds

Security testing in development catches integer underflow defects before release.

prevents

Secure development lifecycle mandates input validation and arithmetic checks that prevent integer underflow.

prevents

Application security requirements include bounds checking and safe arithmetic to avoid underflow conditions.

prevents

Secure architecture principles require defensive coding patterns that mitigate integer wraparound risks.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly prescribe safe integer handling and overflow/underflow prevention.

References