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CVE-2013-3660: Microsoft Win32k Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

• Severity: high (CVSS 7.8 v3.1)
• Exploited in the wild: yes — in CISA KEV since 2022-03-28
• EPSS: 39.3% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
• Public exploit or detection template: yes
• Published: 2013-05-24 · updated 2026-06-16
• Weakness: CWE-119

Description

The EPATHOBJ::pprFlattenRec function in win32k.sys in the kernel-mode drivers in Microsoft Windows XP SP2 and SP3, Windows Server 2003 SP2, Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 SP2 and R2 SP1, Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8, and Windows Server 2012 does not properly initialize a pointer for the next object in a certain list, which allows local users to obtain write access to the PATHRECORD chain, and consequently gain privileges, by triggering excessive consumption of paged memory and then making many FlattenPath function calls, aka "Win32k Read AV Vulnerability."

Affected products

• Microsoft Windows 7: all versions
• Microsoft Windows 8: all versions
• Microsoft Windows Rt: all versions
• Microsoft Windows Server 2003: all versions
• Microsoft Windows Server 2008: r2-sp1
• Microsoft Windows Server 2012: all versions
• Microsoft Windows Vista: all versions
• Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 3: all versions

References

• http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/fulldisclosure/2013-05/0090.html
• http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/fulldisclosure/2013-05/0094.html
• http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/fulldisclosure/2013-06/0006.html
• http://secunia.com/advisories/53435
• http://twitter.com/taviso/statuses/309157606247768064
• http://twitter.com/taviso/statuses/335557286657400832
• http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9239477
• http://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/25611/
• http://www.osvdb.org/93539
• http://www.reddit.com/r/netsec/comments/1eqh66/0day_windows_kernel_epathobj_vulnerability/
• http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/23/4358400/google-engineer-bashes-microsoft-discloses-windows-flaw
• http://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/alerts/TA13-190A

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