CVE-2019-0942 — Unified Write Filter Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Executive Summary

An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in the Unified Write Filter (UWF) feature for Windows 10 when it improperly restricts access to the registry. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could make changes to the registry keys protected by UWF without having administrator privileges. To exploit the vulnerability, an attacker would have to log on to an affected system utilizing UWF and access the registry editor. The security update addresses the vulnerability by correcting how the Unified Write Filter verifies privileges when accessing the registry.

Overview

4.4

CVSS MEDIUM

Important

MS Severity

Not Exploited

MS Exploit Status

Less Likely

MS Exploit Likelihood

Category Elevation of Privilege

Released May 14 2019

Last Updated May 14 2019

Publicly Disclosed No

CISA KEV Not Listed

Known Exploits None Known

EPSS Score 0.01043 — 0.59613 percentile

CVSS Vector

ATTACK VECTOR

Local

ATTACK COMPLEXITY

Low

PRIVILEGES REQUIRED

Low

USER INTERACTION

None

SCOPE

Unchanged

Temporal Score: 4.0

EPSS Score

0.01043

probability of exploitation in the next 30 days

0.59613 percentile - updated 2026-06-20

View on FIRST.org

Affected Products

20 affected products

Product	KB Article	Severity	Impact	Restart Required
Windows 10 for 32-bit Systems	`4499154 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 for x64-based Systems	`4499154 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1607 for 32-bit Systems	`4494440 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1607 for x64-based Systems	`4494440 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1703 for 32-bit Systems	`4499181 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1703 for x64-based Systems	`4499181 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1709 for 32-bit Systems	`4499179 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1709 for ARM64-based Systems	`4499179 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1709 for x64-based Systems	`4499179 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1803 for 32-bit Systems	`4499167 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1803 for ARM64-based Systems	`4499167 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1803 for x64-based Systems	`4499167 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1809 for 32-bit Systems	`4494441 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1809 for ARM64-based Systems	`4494441 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1809 for x64-based Systems	`4494441 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server 2016	`4494440 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server 2016 (Server Core installation)	`4494440 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server 2019	`4494441 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server 2019 (Server Core installation)	`4494441 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server, version 1803 (Server Core Installation)	`4499167 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes

Patches

6 patches

Article	Type	Restart
`4499154`	Security Update	Yes
`4494440`	Security Update	Yes
`4499181`	Security Update	Yes
`4499179`	Security Update	Yes
`4499167`	Security Update	Yes
`4494441`	Security Update	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

Thomas Levering

References

MSRC Advisory MITRE NVD