Threats / Microsoft / CVE-2015-6175
CVE-2015-6175
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-06-22
Microsoft Windows vulnerability
A privilege escalation vulnerability in the Microsoft Windows kernel allows local users to gain elevated privileges through a crafted application.
Verdict
Today item — known-exploited.
This kernel privilege escalation affects Windows systems and has been exploited in the wild. Local attackers can leverage a crafted application to escalate from user-level to higher privileges, potentially compromising system integrity and security controls.
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 2022-05-25).
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.05189 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
Affected: Microsoft, Windows. 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 craft a malicious application designed to trigger the kernel vulnerability through improper permission handling.
Business
An attacker gains a foothold on the system with elevated privileges, bypassing access controls and security boundaries.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I execute the application locally on a Windows system where I have user-level access.
Business
The organization loses isolation between user and system-level operations, enabling lateral movement and persistence.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
I use the elevated privileges to install backdoors, modify system files, or access sensitive data.
Business
Critical systems become compromised, data confidentiality is breached, and remediation costs escalate significantly.
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