Threats / Microsoft / CVE-2022-41091
CVE-2022-41091
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-06-22
Microsoft Windows vulnerability
Microsoft Windows Mark of the Web security feature bypass allows attackers to circumvent integrity protections, potentially enabling malicious file execution and security control evasion.
Verdict
Today item, not a backlog item.
This authorization bypass in Windows MOTW enables attackers to execute untrusted content while evading security warnings. Active exploitation and ransomware deployment demonstrate material risk to enterprise environments relying on MOTW protections.
01
Is it exploitable?
— the evidence, ranked above the scoreReported exploitation
6 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 2022-11-08), flagged for known ransomware use.
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.01986 — 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-863 Incorrect Authorization — 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 file and strip or spoof its Mark of the Web indicator to bypass Windows security warnings.
Business
End users cannot rely on MOTW warnings to identify untrusted downloaded content, increasing successful malware infections.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I deliver the unmarked malicious file via email or web download, where it executes without triggering protected-view or other MOTW-dependent defenses.
Business
Security controls dependent on MOTW fail to isolate or block execution, allowing ransomware and other payloads to establish persistence.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
I leverage this bypass as part of a ransomware campaign to compromise systems at scale with minimal user friction.
Business
Organizations suffer widespread encryption, data exfiltration, and operational downtime with limited forensic evidence of the initial compromise vector.
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