Threats / Microsoft / CVE-2022-22047
CVE-2022-22047
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-08-04
Microsoft Windows vulnerability
Microsoft Windows CSRSS contains an unspecified privilege escalation vulnerability allowing attackers to gain SYSTEM-level access.
Verdict
Today item — known-exploited.
A privilege escalation flaw in the Windows Client/Server Runtime Subsystem enables local attackers to escalate from limited user context to SYSTEM privileges, facilitating post-compromise lateral movement and persistence.
CISA KEV Yes · 2022-07-125EPSS 0.17087 (verify live)6CVSS 7.83CISA SSVC Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Impact: total4
01
Is it exploitable?
— the evidence, ranked above the scoreReported exploitation
9 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 2022-07-12).
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.17087 — 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/E:U/RL:O/RC:C) · Affected: Microsoft, Windows. Confirm exact fixed builds in the vendor advisory.CVSS — CNA-assigned (CVE.org), version 3.1, set at disclosure.
Weakness (CWE)
Mapped to CWE-426 Untrusted Search Path.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 the same day 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.
WeaknessCWE-426 · Untrusted Search Path
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 with limited user privileges through phishing, weak credentials, or another vector.
Business
An attacker establishes a foothold on an endpoint, creating risk of data exfiltration and malware deployment.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I exploit the CSRSS privilege escalation flaw to elevate my privileges to SYSTEM level on the compromised host.
Business
The attacker gains unrestricted control of the endpoint, enabling installation of rootkits, credential theft, and lateral movement across the network.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
With SYSTEM privileges, I establish persistence mechanisms and move laterally to critical systems and sensitive data repositories.
Business
The organization faces potential compromise of domain controllers, file servers, and databases, leading to widespread data breach and operational disruption.
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