Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2024-49120 is a high-severity Insecure Default Variable Initialization (CWE-453) vulnerability in Microsoft Windows Server 2012. Its CVSS base score is 8.1 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 38% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to CM-2 (Baseline Configuration) and CM-6 (Configuration Settings) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2024-43801
Vulnerability Data
Windows Remote Desktop Services Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
—
—
- 4 hardening rules · 2 OS baselines
V10.4.2V10.4.5V15.1.3V15.4.1
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Requires establishing the most restrictive configuration settings, which directly overrides or prevents use of insecure default variable initializations.
Requires maintaining a documented baseline configuration that can enforce secure initial values instead of insecure defaults.
Mandates application of security engineering principles during development that include use of secure defaults and proper variable initialization.
Maintaining separate execution domains for each process structurally eliminates unintended concurrent access to the same shared resources.
Preventing unintended information transfer through shared system resources directly addresses the improper concurrent modification that defines a race condition.
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.
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.
Security testing can detect insecure defaults but does not prevent them.
Configuration management enforces secure default values and prevents insecure initialization.
Secure development life cycle requires explicit secure initialization of variables.
Application security requirements can specify thread-safety and locking rules, but do not prescribe implementation details.
Secure architecture principles include avoiding insecure defaults in design.
Secure coding standards mandate explicit, safe variable initialization.