The Windows kernel in Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 allows an elevation of privilege vulnerability due to the way it handles objects in memory, aka "Windows Kernel Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability."
Conclusion & alert: CVE-2018-1038 is rated High Exploit Risk (80.1/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 61.28%, 98th percentile). Core evidence: 3 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Mandatory action: Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.
Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.
| EDB-ID | Source | Kind | Published | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 44581 | exploit_db | edb | 2018-04-24 | Exploit-DB ↗ |
| — | nvd_ref | exploit_tag | Exploit-DB ↗ | |
| — | nvd_ref | exploit_tag | Exploit-DB ↗ |
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 | 2026-04-07 | 61.79% | 61.28% | -0.52% |
| 2 | 2026-03-25 | 61.28% | 61.79% | +0.52% |
| 3 | 2025-11-23 | — | 61.28% | — |
Full EPSS history (15 records total)
CVSS metrics for this CVE.
| Base score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability | Impact | Score source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.8 | 3.0 | HIGH |
|
1.8 | 5.9 | [email protected] |
| 7.2 | 2.0 | HIGH |
|
3.9 | 10.0 | [email protected] |
| Vendor | Product | Version | Raw CPE |
|---|---|---|---|
| microsoft | windows_7 | — | cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_7:-:sp1:*:*:*:*:x64:* |
| microsoft | windows_server_2008 | r2 | cpe:2.3:o:microsoft:windows_server_2008:r2:sp1:*:*:*:*:x64:* |
| URL | Tags |
|---|---|
| http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/103549 | Third Party Advisory VDB Entry |
| http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1040632 | Third Party Advisory VDB Entry |
| https://blog.xpnsec.com/total-meltdown-cve-2018-1038/ | Exploit Third Party Advisory |
| https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2018-1038 | Patch Vendor Advisory |
| https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/44581/ | Exploit Third Party Advisory VDB Entry |