CVE-2016-7255
high CISA KEVMicrosoft Win32k Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
Vendor / product: Microsoft — Win32k
The kernel-mode drivers in Microsoft Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 SP2 and R2 SP1, Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 Gold and R2, Windows RT 8.1, Windows 10 Gold, 1511, and 1607, and Windows Server 2016 allow local users to gain privileges via a crafted application, aka "Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability."
CVSS
7.8
7.8 (CVSS v3.1)
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Severity source: NVD CVSS v3.1 (nvd@nist.gov)
Timeline (UTC)
Published: 2016-11-10 07:00
Modified: 2026-09-10 04:17
NVD status: Analyzed
Last synced 1 day ago
Verified against the source API 2026-10-27 07:07 UTC
Exploitation
Listed in CISA KEV
Added 2021-11-03 · due 2022-05-03
Known ransomware use: Known
Required action (CISA)
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Affected products
microsoft / windows_10_1507 all versions
microsoft / windows_10_1511 all versions
microsoft / windows_10_1607 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_vista all versions
Weakness classification (CWE)
NVD-CWE-noinfo
Source: NVD / CISA. “NVD-CWE-Other” and “NVD-CWE-noinfo” mean NVD could not assign a specific weakness.
Mitigation & advisories
References
- http://blog.trendmicro.com/trendlabs-security-intelligence/one-bit-rule-system-analyzing-c... secure@microsoft.com
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/140468/Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-win32k.sys-NtSetWindo... secure@microsoft.com
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/94064 secure@microsoft.com
- http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1037251 secure@microsoft.com
- https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2016/ms16-135 secure@microsoft.com
- https://github.com/mwrlabs/CVE-2016-7255 secure@microsoft.com
- https://securingtomorrow.mcafee.com/mcafee-labs/digging-windows-kernel-privilege-escalatio... secure@microsoft.com
- https://security.googleblog.com/2016/10/disclosing-vulnerabilities-to-protect.html secure@microsoft.com
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40745/ secure@microsoft.com
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40823/ secure@microsoft.com
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/41015/ secure@microsoft.com
- http://blog.trendmicro.com/trendlabs-security-intelligence/one-bit-rule-system-analyzing-c... af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/140468/Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-win32k.sys-NtSetWindo... af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/94064 af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
- http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1037251 af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
- https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2016/ms16-135 af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
- https://github.com/mwrlabs/CVE-2016-7255 af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
- https://securingtomorrow.mcafee.com/mcafee-labs/digging-windows-kernel-privilege-escalatio... af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
- https://security.googleblog.com/2016/10/disclosing-vulnerabilities-to-protect.html af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40745/ af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40823/ af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/41015/ af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2016-7255 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
Data sources
CISA KEV — fetched 2026-10-27 06:50 UTC · record ↗
NVD CVE API 2.0 — fetched 2026-10-27 07:07 UTC · record ↗