CVE-2016-7255

Exp

The kernel-mode drivers in Microsoft Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 SP2 and R2 SP1, Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 Gold and R2, Windows RT 8.1, Windows 10 Gold, 1511, and 1607, and Windows Server 2016 allow local users to gain privileges via a crafted application, aka "Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability."

Published: 2016-11-10 Last update: 2026-04-22 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2016-7255 is rated Critical Active Threat (91.3/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 89.56%, 100th percentile). CISA KEV confirms active exploitation (added 2021-11-03) affecting Microsoft / Win32k. Unauthenticated remote administrative access may be possible. The CISA remediation deadline has passed—treat as an emergency patch priority.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

CISA KEV Record for CVE-2016-7255

Name: Microsoft Win32k Privilege Escalation Vulnerability · CISA KEV detail

Exploit added: 2021-11-03

Action due: 2022-05-03

Required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2016-7255

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
41015 exploit_db edb 2017-01-08 Exploit-DB ↗
40823 exploit_db edb 2016-11-24 Exploit-DB ↗
40745 exploit_db edb 2016-11-09 Exploit-DB ↗
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗
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Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2016-7255

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-05-12 89.36% 89.56% +0.20%
2 2026-03-21 89.30% 89.36% +0.06%
3 2026-02-17 — 89.30% —

Full EPSS history (23 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2016-7255

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 5.9 [email protected]
7.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.8 5.9 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
7.2 2.0 HIGH
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
 3.9 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2016-7255

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2016-7255

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
microsoft windows_10_1507 — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_1507:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_10_1511 — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_1511:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_10_1607 — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_10_1607:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_7 — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_7:-:sp1:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_8.1 — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_8.1:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_rt_8.1 — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_rt_8.1:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_server_2008 — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2008:-:sp2:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_server_2008 r2 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2008:r2:sp1:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_server_2012 — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2012:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_server_2012 r2 cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2012:r2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_server_2016 — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2016:-:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
microsoft windows_vista — cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_vista:-:sp2:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2016-7255

URL Tags
http://blog.trendmicro.com/trendlabs-security-intelligence/one-bit-rule-system-analyzing-cve-2016-7255-exploit-wild/ Broken Link
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/140468/Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-win32k.sys-NtSetWindowLongPtr-Privilege-Escalation.html Exploit Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/94064 Broken Link Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1037251 Broken Link Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2016/ms16-135 Patch Vendor Advisory
https://github.com/mwrlabs/CVE-2016-7255 Exploit Third Party Advisory
https://securingtomorrow.mcafee.com/mcafee-labs/digging-windows-kernel-privilege-escalation-vulnerability-cve-2016-7255/ Broken Link
https://security.googleblog.com/2016/10/disclosing-vulnerabilities-to-protect.html Third Party Advisory
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40745/ Exploit Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/40823/ Exploit Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/41015/ Exploit Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2016-7255 US Government Resource
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