Threats / Microsoft / CVE-2018-0824
CVE-2018-0824
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-08-04
Microsoft Windows vulnerability
Microsoft COM deserialization vulnerability in Windows allows remote code execution and privilege escalation through specially crafted files or scripts.
Verdict
Today item — known-exploited.
CVE-2018-0824 is a critical deserialization flaw enabling unauthenticated remote code execution with privilege escalation potential. High EPSS score and active exploitation in the wild indicate immediate threat to unpatched Windows systems.
CISA KEV Yes · 2024-08-054EPSS 0.72405 (verify live)5Exploit Public PoC6CVSS 7.5 (CISA)3CISA SSVC Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Impact: total3
01
Is it exploitable?
— the evidence, ranked above the scoreExploit available
Public proof-of-concept exploit code is cataloged for this vulnerability.We link the existence of the exploit; we do not host or redistribute payloads.
Reported 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 2024-08-05).
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.72405 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
CVSS 7.5 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/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-502 Deserialization of Untrusted Data — weakness family: Injection.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 2280 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.
Public exploit available
Public exploit tooling is catalogued for this CVE (a public proof-of-concept / detection template). Catalog entries: Metasploit module. We link the catalog page(s) only — no payload or code is hosted or restated here.Link, never host — the catalog page is the source; basicsecurity.net does not redistribute payloads.
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 file or script that exploits unsafe deserialization in Windows COM to execute arbitrary code.
Business
Attacker gains code execution on victim systems, enabling data theft, malware deployment, or lateral movement within enterprise networks.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I leverage the code execution to escalate privileges from user context to system or administrator level.
Business
Elevated privileges allow complete system compromise, persistence mechanisms, and access to sensitive administrative functions and data.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
I distribute the malicious file through email, file sharing, or compromised websites to maximize infection surface.
Business
Widespread deployment across organizations results in mass system compromise, operational disruption, and potential regulatory compliance violations.
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