CVE-2019-0853 — GDI+ Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Executive Summary

A remote code execution vulnerability exists in the way that the Windows Graphics Device Interface (GDI) handles objects in the memory. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take control of the affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights. There are multiple ways an attacker could exploit the vulnerability: The security update addresses the vulnerability by correcting the way that the Windows GDI handles objects in the memory.

Overview

8.8

CVSS HIGH

Critical

MS Severity

Not Exploited

MS Exploit Status

Less Likely

MS Exploit Likelihood

Category Remote Code Execution

Released Apr 9 2019

Last Updated Apr 9 2019

Publicly Disclosed No

CISA KEV Not Listed

Known Exploits None Known

EPSS Score 0.27571 — 0.97871 percentile

NVD CVSS 8.8 HIGH — differs from MSRC

CVSS Vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

ATTACK VECTOR

Network

ATTACK COMPLEXITY

Low

PRIVILEGES REQUIRED

None

USER INTERACTION

Required

SCOPE

Unchanged

CONFIDENTIALITY

High

INTEGRITY

High

AVAILABILITY

High

Temporal Score: 7.8

EPSS Score

0.27571

probability of exploitation in the next 30 days

0.97871 percentile - updated 2026-07-25

View on FIRST.org

Affected Products

22 affected products

Product	KB Article	Severity	Impact	Restart Required
Windows 10 for 32-bit Systems	`4493475 (Security Update)`	Critical	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows 10 for x64-based Systems	`4493475 (Security Update)`	Critical	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1607 for 32-bit Systems	`4493470 (Security Update)`	Critical	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1607 for x64-based Systems	`4493470 (Security Update)`	Critical	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1703 for 32-bit Systems	`4493474 (Security Update)`	Critical	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1703 for x64-based Systems	`4493474 (Security Update)`	Critical	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1709 for 32-bit Systems	`4493441 (Security Update)`	Critical	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1709 for ARM64-based Systems	`4493441 (Security Update)`	Critical	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1709 for x64-based Systems	`4493441 (Security Update)`	Critical	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1803 for 32-bit Systems	`4493464 (Security Update)`	Critical	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1803 for ARM64-based Systems	`4493464 (Security Update)`	Critical	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1803 for x64-based Systems	`4493464 (Security Update)`	Critical	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1809 for 32-bit Systems	`4493509 (Security Update)`	Critical	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1809 for ARM64-based Systems	`4493509 (Security Update)`	Critical	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1809 for x64-based Systems	`4493509 (Security Update)`	Critical	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows 7 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 1 4493472 (Monthly Rollup) 4493448 (Security Only) Critical Remote Code Execution 4489878 Base: 7.8 Temporal: 7.8 Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Yes None Windows 7 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1 4493472 (Monthly Rollup) 4493448 (Security Only) Critical Remote Code Execution 4489878 Base: 7.8 Temporal: 7.8 Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Yes None Windows 8.1 for 32-bit systems 4493446 (Monthly Rollup) 4493467 (Security Only) Critical Remote Code Execution 4489881 Base: 7.8 Temporal: 7.8 Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Yes None Windows 8.1 for x64-based systems 4493446 (Monthly Rollup) 4493467 (Security Only) Critical Remote Code Execution 4489881 Base: 7.8 Temporal: 7.8 Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Yes None Windows RT 8.1	`4493446 (Monthly Rollup)`	Critical	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2 4493471 (Monthly Rollup) 4493458 (Security Only) Critical Remote Code Execution 4489880 Base: 7.8 Temporal: 7.8 Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Yes None Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2 (Server Core installation) 4493471 (Monthly Rollup) 4493458 (Security Only) Critical Remote Code Execution 4489880 Base: 7.8 Temporal: 7.8 Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Yes None Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-Based Systems Service Pack 2 4493471 (Monthly Rollup) 4493458 (Security Only) Critical Remote Code Execution 4489880 Base: 7.8 Temporal: 7.8 Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Yes None Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2 4493471 (Monthly Rollup) 4493458 (Security Only) Critical Remote Code Execution 4489880 Base: 7.8 Temporal: 7.8 Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Yes None Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2 (Server Core installation) 4493471 (Monthly Rollup) 4493458 (Security Only) Critical Remote Code Execution 4489880 Base: 7.8 Temporal: 7.8 Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Yes None Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-Based Systems Service Pack 1 4493472 (Monthly Rollup) 4493448 (Security Only) Critical Remote Code Execution 4489878 Base: 7.8 Temporal: 7.8 Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Yes None Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1 4493472 (Monthly Rollup) 4493448 (Security Only) Critical Remote Code Execution 4489878 Base: 7.8 Temporal: 7.8 Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Yes None Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 1 (Server Core installation) 4493472 (Monthly Rollup) 4493448 (Security Only) Critical Remote Code Execution 4489878 Base: 7.8 Temporal: 7.8 Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Yes None Windows Server 2012 4493451 (Monthly Rollup) 4493450 (Security Only) Critical Remote Code Execution 4489891 Base: 7.8 Temporal: 7.8 Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Yes None Windows Server 2012 (Server Core installation) 4493451 (Monthly Rollup) 4493450 (Security Only) Critical Remote Code Execution 4489891 Base: 7.8 Temporal: 7.8 Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Yes None Windows Server 2012 R2 4493446 (Monthly Rollup) 4493467 (Security Only) Critical Remote Code Execution 4489881 Base: 7.8 Temporal: 7.8 Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Yes None Windows Server 2012 R2 (Server Core installation) 4493446 (Monthly Rollup) 4493467 (Security Only) Critical Remote Code Execution 4489881 Base: 7.8 Temporal: 7.8 Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Yes None Windows Server 2016	`4493470 (Security Update)`	Critical	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows Server 2016 (Server Core installation)	`4493470 (Security Update)`	Critical	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows Server 2019	`4493509 (Security Update)`	Critical	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows Server 2019 (Server Core installation)	`4493509 (Security Update)`	Critical	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows Server, version 1709 (Server Core Installation)	`4493441 (Security Update)`	Critical	Remote Code Execution	Yes
Windows Server, version 1803 (Server Core Installation)	`4493464 (Security Update)`	Critical	Remote Code Execution	Yes

Patches

7 patches

Article	Type	Restart
`4493475`	Security Update	Yes
`4493470`	Security Update	Yes
`4493474`	Security Update	Yes
`4493441`	Security Update	Yes
`4493464`	Security Update	Yes
`4493509`	Security Update	Yes
`4493446`	Monthly Rollup	Yes

Known Exploits

No known exploits have been linked for this CVE yet. When available, exploit references will be sourced from public repositories and may be unverified, incomplete, or non-functional. Always review code carefully before use in any environment.

Acknowledgments

Hossein Lotfi working with Trend Micro's Zero Day Initiative
Axel Souchet ( @0vercl0k
Thomas Imbert ( @masthoon

References

MSRC Advisory MITRE NVD