Threats / Microsoft / CVE-2010-4398
CVE-2010-4398
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-08-04
Microsoft Windows vulnerability
Stack-based buffer overflow in RtlQueryRegistryValues function within win32k.sys allows local users to escalate privileges and bypass User Account Control.
Verdict
Today item — known-exploited.
A local privilege escalation vulnerability in Windows kernel code enables attackers with user-level access to gain administrative control and circumvent UAC protections. Active exploitation in the wild increases risk.
CISA KEV Yes · 2022-03-284EPSS 0.08661 (verify live)5CVSS 7.8 (CISA)3CISA SSVC Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Impact: total3
01
Is it exploitable?
— the evidence, ranked above the scoreReported exploitation
4 independent public reports of in-the-wild exploitation are cataloged.Distinct reporting sources (vendor, incident response, government); open them for the underlying claims.
Exploited in the wild
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-03-28).
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.08661 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
CVSS 7.8 (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) · Affected: Microsoft, Windows. Confirm exact fixed builds in the vendor advisory.CVSS — CISA-assigned via the ADP container (CVE.org), version 3.1; the CNA left no metrics, so CISA's own score is used ahead of NVD.
Weakness (CWE)
Mapped to CWE-119 Memory Buffer Bounds Error — weakness family: Memory safety.CWE assignment from the public NVD record (may be stale); the weakness class drives how the flaw is exploited.
CISA SSVC (triage disposition)
Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Technical Impact: totalCISA's own stakeholder-specific triage inputs, published in the CVE record (CISA Coordinator role). NOTE: this is CISA's three decision points; the final Act/Attend/Track decision also requires a Mission & Well-being input not published here, so no overall decision is asserted.
Currency of the record
CISA added this to its KEV catalog 4133 days after the CVE record was published.KEV lag = CISA-KEV dateAdded − CVE.org datePublished; a floor on how long the known-exploited flaw sat in the public record before the federal catalog listed it. Severity/weakness here is CNA- or CISA-assigned (current at disclosure), independent of NVD's analysis backlog.
02
Who’s exploiting it?
— attribution turns risk into urgencyAttribution not established
No confirmed (advisory-backed) threat-actor attribution is established for this record. Absence of a named actor is not absence of compromise — see Coverage & confidence.
03
Why it matters
— the attack path, told twice: adversary, then board1
Front door — unauthenticated access narrative 1
Attacker
I craft a malicious input to trigger a stack buffer overflow in the RtlQueryRegistryValues function.
Business
Attacker gains local code execution with elevated privileges, bypassing security boundaries.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I exploit the overflow to overwrite stack memory and redirect execution to arbitrary code.
Business
User Account Control is defeated, allowing unauthorized administrative actions on the system.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
I establish persistent control or deploy malware with system-level permissions.
Business
Confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected system are fully compromised.
04
What to do
— defensible action- Remediate per the vendor advisory — confirm the fixed build for your version and verify exposure.1
Say it to the boardA vulnerability with this evidence profile is a defensible budget line, not a backlog ticket — fund the change against the proof above.
05