Threats / Microsoft / CVE-2019-0863
CVE-2019-0863
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-08-04
Microsoft Windows vulnerability
Microsoft Windows Error Reporting (WER) privilege escalation vulnerability allows attackers to execute code in kernel mode through improper file handling.
Verdict
Today item — known-exploited.
A kernel-mode code execution vulnerability in Windows Error Reporting enables local privilege escalation. Active exploitation in the wild demonstrates practical attack viability against unpatched systems.
CISA KEV Yes · 2021-11-034EPSS 0.05207 (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 2021-11-03).
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.05207 — 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.
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 902 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 identify a Windows system running vulnerable Error Reporting service and craft a malicious file to trigger improper handling.
Business
Attacker gains local code execution capability on affected endpoint.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I exploit the file handling flaw to escalate from user-mode to kernel-mode execution context.
Business
System security boundary is compromised, enabling unrestricted system access.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
I execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges to install persistence mechanisms or lateral movement tools.
Business
Endpoint becomes fully compromised asset under attacker control with ability to evade detection and spread.
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