CVE-2024-38107 — Windows Power Dependency Coordinator Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Executive Summary

None

Overview

7.8

CVSS HIGH

Important

MS Severity

Exploited

MS Exploit Status

Exploitation Detected

MS Exploit Likelihood

Category Elevation of Privilege

Weakness CWE-416: Use After Free

Released Aug 13 2024

Last Updated Aug 13 2024

Publicly Disclosed No

CISA KEV Listed (added 2024-08-13)

Known Exploits None Known

EPSS Score 0.01635 — 0.74184 percentile

NVD CVSS 7.8 HIGH — matches MSRC

CVSS Vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:F/RL:O/RC:C

ATTACK VECTOR

Local

ATTACK COMPLEXITY

Low

PRIVILEGES REQUIRED

Low

USER INTERACTION

None

SCOPE

Unchanged

CONFIDENTIALITY

High

INTEGRITY

High

AVAILABILITY

High

EXPLOIT CODE MATURITY

Functional

REMEDIATION LEVEL

Official Fix

REPORT CONFIDENCE

Confirmed

Temporal Score: 7.2

EPSS Score

0.01635

probability of exploitation in the next 30 days

0.74184 percentile - updated 2026-08-14

View on FIRST.org

Affected Products

31 affected products

Product	KB Article	Severity	Impact	Restart Required
Windows 10 for 32-bit Systems	`5041782 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 for x64-based Systems	`5041782 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1607 for 32-bit Systems	`5041773 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1607 for x64-based Systems	`5041773 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1809 for 32-bit Systems	`5041578 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 1809 for x64-based Systems	`5041578 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 21H2 for 32-bit Systems	`5041580 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 21H2 for ARM64-based Systems	`5041580 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 21H2 for x64-based Systems	`5041580 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 22H2 for 32-bit Systems	`5041580 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 22H2 for ARM64-based Systems	`5041580 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 10 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems	`5041580 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 11 version 21H2 for ARM64-based Systems	`5041592 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 11 version 21H2 for x64-based Systems	`5041592 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 11 Version 22H2 for ARM64-based Systems	`5041585 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 11 Version 22H2 for x64-based Systems	`5041585 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 11 Version 23H2 for ARM64-based Systems	`5041585 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 11 Version 23H2 for x64-based Systems	`5041585 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 11 Version 24H2 for ARM64-based Systems	`5041571 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows 11 Version 24H2 for x64-based Systems	`5041571 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server 2012	`5041851 (Monthly Rollup)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server 2012 (Server Core installation)	`5041851 (Monthly Rollup)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server 2012 R2	`5041828 (Monthly Rollup)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server 2012 R2 (Server Core installation)	`5041828 (Monthly Rollup)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server 2016	`5041773 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server 2016 (Server Core installation)	`5041773 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server 2019	`5041578 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server 2019 (Server Core installation)	`5041578 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server 2022	`5041160 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server 2022 (Server Core installation)	`5041160 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes
Windows Server 2022, 23H2 Edition (Server Core installation)	`5041573 (Security Update)`	Important	Elevation of Privilege	Yes

Patches

11 patches

Article	Type	Restart
`5041782`	Security Update	Yes
`5041773`	Security Update	Yes
`5041578`	Security Update	Yes
`5041580`	Security Update	Yes
`5041592`	Security Update	Yes
`5041585`	Security Update	Yes
`5041571`	Security Update	Yes
`5041851`	Monthly Rollup	Yes
`5041828`	Monthly Rollup	Yes
`5041160`	Security Update	Yes
`5041573`	Security Update	Yes

Patch Diff

ghidriff · pdc.sys (KB5041571)

Use-after-free (CWE-416) in the Windows Power Dependency Coordinator kernel driver pdc.sys ALPC message processing, local EoP to SYSTEM - exploited in the wild (per MSRC 'Exploitation Detected'). pdc.sys services client requests over ALPC; PdcpAlpcProcessMessages -> PdcProcessMessage handle client messages and manage per-client objects (freed via PdcFreeClient). PRE: message processing and client-object teardown were not serialized, so one ALPC message could free a PDC client object (PdcFreeClient) while another concurrent message handler still referenced it - a use-after-free of the client object, usable for local EoP to SYSTEM. Diff of pdc.sys 10.0.26100.1301 -> .1455 (Aug 13 2024, KB5041571) confirms the fix: gated behind CFR flag Feature_760025401, PdcProcessMessage and PdcpAlpcProcessMessages now take a global PDC lock (PdcAcquireLock / PdcReleaseLock, with GetPdcLockThread used to detect the already-owning thread / avoid recursive acquire) around message processing and client freeing, serializing the ALPC handlers so a client object cannot be freed while another handler is using it, closing the use-after-free.

Pre-patch version 10.0.26100.1301 Download

Post-patch version 10.0.26100.1455 Download

Function	Address	Change	Note
`PdcProcessMessage`	`code change`	code (message processing + client free under global lock, CFR-gated)	Post (Feature_760025401): PdcAcquireLock() taken around the message handling / PdcFreeClient calls, released after - so client teardown is serialized against concurrent message handlers.
`PdcpAlpcProcessMessages`	`code change`	code (ALPC dispatch serialized)	Post: GetPdcLockThread() checked, then PdcAcquireLock()/PdcReleaseLock() around dispatch so processing of concurrent ALPC messages is serialized (reentrancy-aware).
`PdcAcquireLock / PdcReleaseLock / GetPdcLockThread`	`new/updated`	added (global PDC lock)	Lock primitives introduced/used to serialize PDC message processing and client-object lifetime.
`Feature_760025401`	`gate`	added (CFR gate)	CFR flag gating the lock-serialized message processing; the original unsynchronized path still ships when disabled.

View full diff report View RCA report

Attack Path

Concurrent PDC ALPC messages free a client object while another handler uses it

Derived from the patch delta: the checks added by the vendor identify which fields crossed a trust boundary unvalidated. Reachability and privilege are taken from the call chain in the RCA report.

Exploits & PoC

No public exploit or PoC has been linked for this CVE yet. When available, references are sourced from public repositories and may be unverified or non-functional — review carefully before use.

Detection Rules

No public Sigma or Nuclei detection rule has been mapped to this CVE yet. Coverage is concentrated on exploited / high-profile vulnerabilities; check SigmaHQ for updates.

Acknowledgments

Anonymous

References

MSRC Advisory MITRE NVD