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Threats / Microsoft / CVE-2022-21919
CVE-2022-21919 · EUVD no mirror located · GCVE no mirror located Verified 2026-06-22

Microsoft Windows vulnerability

Microsoft Windows User Profile Service vulnerability allows privilege escalation. Actively exploited in the wild.

Verdict

Today item — known-exploited.

A privilege escalation flaw in Windows User Profile Service enables attackers to gain elevated system access. Active exploitation confirms real-world risk despite low EPSS score.

CISA KEV Yes · 2022-04-253EPSS 0.0295 (verify live)4
01

Is it exploitable?

— the evidence, ranked above the score
Reported exploitation
3 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 2022-04-25).
CISA KEV ↗Confirmed
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.0295 — 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.
NVD ↗Reported
Weakness (CWE)
Mapped to CWE-1386 CWE-1386.CWE assignment from the public NVD record; the weakness class drives how the flaw is exploited.
NVD ↗Reported
02

Who’s exploiting it?

— attribution turns risk into urgency
Attribution 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 board
1

Front door — unauthenticated access narrative 1

Attacker
I exploit the User Profile Service vulnerability to escalate my privileges from a standard user account to system or administrator level.
Business
Attackers gain elevated access to critical systems, enabling lateral movement and deeper compromise of enterprise infrastructure.
2

Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2

Attacker
With elevated privileges, I access sensitive data, modify system configurations, and install persistent backdoors.
Business
Confidentiality, integrity, and availability of systems are compromised; incident response and recovery 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

Coverage & confidence

— what we know, and what we don’t

Established (cited)

  • KEV listing (CISA)
  • EPSS probability (FIRST)
  • 3 reported-exploitation source(s)
  • CWE weakness mapping (NVD)
  • Catalogued by microsoft (CNA)
  • Coverage gaps — stated, not hidden

  • No EUVD / GCVE mirror in feed — single-authority dependency for the identifier.
  • EPSS & exposure are time-varying; verify live at the source.
  • Threat-actor attribution not established from feed data — absence of a name is not absence of compromise.
  • No finder/reporter credit recorded in the public CVE entry — the work behind this find is unattributed.
  • Disclosure & credit2
    Catalogued by microsoftCNA
    Credited with finding itNo finder named in the public CVE record — the work behind this find is unattributed.