CVE-2019-1380 — Microsoft splwow64 Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Executive Summary

A local elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in how splwow64.exe handles certain calls. An attacker who successfully exploited the vulnerability could elevate privileges on an affected system from low-integrity to medium-integrity. This vulnerability by itself does not allow arbitrary code execution; however, it could allow arbitrary code to be run if the attacker uses it in combination with another vulnerability (such as a remote code execution vulnerability or another elevation of privilege vulnerability) that is capable of leveraging the elevated privileges when code execution is attempted. The security update addresses the vulnerability by ensuring splwow64.exe properly handles these calls..

Overview

7.8

CVSS HIGH

Important

MS Severity

Not Exploited

MS Exploit Status

Less Likely

MS Exploit Likelihood

Category Elevation of Privilege

Released Nov 12 2019

Last Updated Nov 12 2019

Publicly Disclosed No

CISA KEV Not Listed

Known Exploits None Known

EPSS Score 0.00726 — 0.4924 percentile

CVSS Vector

ATTACK VECTOR

Local

ATTACK COMPLEXITY

Low

PRIVILEGES REQUIRED

Low

USER INTERACTION

None

SCOPE

Unchanged

Temporal Score: 7.0

EPSS Score

0.00726

probability of exploitation in the next 30 days

0.4924 percentile - updated 2026-06-20

View on FIRST.org

Affected Products

29 affected products

Product	KB Article	Severity	Impact	Restart Required
Windows 10 for 32-bit Systems	`4525232 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 for x64-based Systems	`4525232 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1607 for 32-bit Systems	`4525236 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1607 for x64-based Systems	`4525236 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1709 for 32-bit Systems	`4525241 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1709 for ARM64-based Systems	`4525241 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1709 for x64-based Systems	`4525241 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1803 for 32-bit Systems	`4525237 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1803 for ARM64-based Systems	`4525237 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1803 for x64-based Systems	`4525237 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1809 for 32-bit Systems	`4523205 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1809 for ARM64-based Systems	`4523205 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1809 for x64-based Systems	`4523205 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1903 for 32-bit Systems	`4524570 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1903 for ARM64-based Systems	`4524570 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1903 for x64-based Systems	`4524570 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 8.1 for 32-bit systems	`4525243 (Monthly Rollup) 4525250 (Security Only)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 8.1 for x64-based systems	`4525243 (Monthly Rollup) 4525250 (Security Only)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows RT 8.1	`4525243 (Monthly Rollup)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server 2012	`4525246 (Monthly Rollup) 4525253 (Security Only)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server 2012 (Server Core installation)	`4525246 (Monthly Rollup) 4525253 (Security Only)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server 2012 R2	`4525243 (Monthly Rollup) 4525250 (Security Only)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server 2012 R2 (Server Core installation)	`4525243 (Monthly Rollup) 4525250 (Security Only)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server 2016	`4525236 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server 2016 (Server Core installation)	`4525236 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server 2019	`4523205 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server 2019 (Server Core installation)	`4523205 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server, version 1803 (Server Core Installation)	`4525237 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server, version 1903 (Server Core installation)	`4524570 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes

Patches

9 patches

Article	Type	Restart
`4525232`	Security Update	Yes
`4525236`	Security Update	Yes
`4525241`	Security Update	Yes
`4525237`	Security Update	Yes
`4523205`	Security Update	Yes
`4524570`	Security Update	Yes
`4525243 (Monthly Rollup) 4525250`	Monthly Rollup	Yes
`4525243`	Monthly Rollup	Yes
`4525246 (Monthly Rollup) 4525253`	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

Trend Micro's Zero Day Initiative, Wayne Low of Fortinet’s FortiGuard Labs, Keqi Hu from Chengdu Security Response Center of Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd.

References

MSRC Advisory MITRE NVD