Threats / Microsoft / CVE-2018-8405
CVE-2018-8405
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-08-04
Microsoft DirectX Graphics Kernel (DXGKRNL) vulnerability
An elevation of privilege vulnerability in DirectX Graphics Kernel (DXGKRNL) driver allows improper memory object handling, enabling attackers to escalate privileges on affected Windows systems.
Verdict
Today item, not a backlog item.
This vulnerability has been actively exploited in the wild and leveraged in ransomware campaigns. The elevation of privilege vector combined with real-world exploitation demonstrates significant operational risk to Windows environments.
CISA KEV Yes · 2022-03-284Ransomware use Flagged4EPSS 0.03444 (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
2 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), flagged for known ransomware use.
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.03444 — 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, DirectX Graphics Kernel (DXGKRNL). 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-404 CWE-404 — weakness family: Resource / availability.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 1321 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 gain initial access to a Windows system through phishing, watering hole, or network compromise.
Business
An attacker establishes a foothold in the corporate environment with limited user-level permissions.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I trigger the DXGKRNL memory handling flaw to escalate my privileges to system or kernel level.
Business
The attacker obtains administrative control, bypassing security boundaries and access controls.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
I deploy ransomware or lateral movement tools with elevated privileges across the network.
Business
Critical systems become compromised, enabling widespread encryption, data exfiltration, or persistent backdoor installation.
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