Threats / Microsoft / CVE-2018-8611
CVE-2018-8611
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-06-22
Microsoft Windows vulnerability
A privilege escalation vulnerability in the Windows kernel's memory object handling allows attackers to gain elevated system privileges.
Verdict
Today item — known-exploited.
This kernel-level privilege escalation has been actively exploited in the wild. The vulnerability enables local attackers to escalate from user-mode to kernel-mode execution, compromising system integrity and enabling further malicious activity.
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
5 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 2022-05-24).
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.04196 — 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-404 CWE-404 — weakness family: Resource / availability.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 input that triggers improper memory object handling in the Windows kernel.
Business
An attacker gains a foothold on the system through initial compromise or local access.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I exploit the memory handling flaw to escalate my privileges from user-mode to kernel-mode execution.
Business
The attacker bypasses access controls and gains unrestricted system-level permissions.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
I execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges to install persistence mechanisms or deploy additional payloads.
Business
The organization loses control of affected systems, enabling data theft, lateral movement, or system destruction.
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