Threats / Microsoft / CVE-2015-1701
CVE-2015-1701
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-06-22
Microsoft Win32k vulnerability
An unspecified privilege escalation vulnerability in Win32k.sys allows local attackers to execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges on Windows Server systems.
Verdict
Today item, not a backlog item.
This kernel-mode driver vulnerability enables local privilege escalation attacks. The high EPSS score and confirmed exploitation in the wild, including ransomware campaigns, indicate active adversarial abuse and significant risk to affected systems.
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
27 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 2022-03-03), flagged for known ransomware use.
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.562 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
Affected: Microsoft, Win32k. Confirm exact fixed builds in the vendor advisory.
Weakness (CWE)
Mapped to CWE-264 Permissions/Privileges/Access Control — weakness family: Authorization / access control.CWE assignment from the public NVD record; the weakness class drives how the flaw is exploited.
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 local access to a Windows Server system through a separate compromise vector.
Business
An attacker establishes a foothold on the network, creating exposure to lateral movement and data exfiltration.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I trigger the Win32k.sys vulnerability to escalate my privileges from user-level to kernel-level execution.
Business
The attacker obtains system-level control, bypassing security boundaries and access controls across the infrastructure.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
I deploy ransomware or other malicious payloads with full system privileges to encrypt data or establish persistence.
Business
Critical systems become compromised, leading to operational disruption, data loss, and potential extortion demands.
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