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CVE-2015-1769

Mount Manager in Microsoft Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 SP2 and R2 SP1, Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 Gold and R2, Windows RT Gold and 8.1, and Windows 10 mishandles symlinks, which allows physically proximate attackers to execute arbitrary code by connecting a crafted USB device, aka "Mount Manager Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability."

CVSS
6.6Mediumscored by CISA
Exploited in the wild
Yes, in CISA KEV since 25 May 2022CISA deadline for US federal agencies: 15 Jun 2022unvetted proof-of-concept code on github
EPSS
4.1%chance of exploitation in the next 30 daystop 10% of scored CVEsFIRST score of 11 Nov 2026
Fix
Patch availablesee the advisories in the references
Published
15 Aug 2015analysed here 12 Nov 2026

Do first. Apply updates per vendor instructions. (CISA's required action for this KEV entry)

Summary

Triage

Exploitable
Configuration or build time
Attack vector
physical
Weakness
Can a WAF block it?
No. See why

The summary, impact and action text on this page are written by our AI analysis pipeline, or taken from the NVD description when a CVE was imported from NVD. They are not the vendor's wording: check them against the sources. A longer AI executive summary and technical analysis are generated for signed-in accounts on the Max plan.

Affected products

Products named in our analysis

  • microsoft:windows_10
  • microsoft:windows_7
  • microsoft:windows_8
  • microsoft:windows_8.1
  • microsoft:windows_rt
  • microsoft:windows_rt_8.1
  • microsoft:windows_server_2008
  • microsoft:windows_server_2012
  • microsoft:windows_vista

Fix and mitigation

WAF and other mitigations

Can a WAF block it? No. The attack needs physical access to the machine, so a WAF is not on its path.

Also consider: patch

Based on the attack vector (local or physical access). We check Cloudflare, AWS, Google Cloud Armor and Azure; for Akamai, Imperva, Fastly, F5, ask your vendor.

Remediation steps (AI-written)

Step-by-step remediation is generated for accounts on the Max plan, for CVEs that match a technology in their stack. Add this technology to your stack to see the fix checklist.

Exploitation evidence

CISA KEV catalog
Listed since 25 May 2022.
CISA due date
15 Jun 2022, the remediation deadline for US federal agencies
CISA required action
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Public exploit code
Unvetted proof-of-concept code on GitHub: 1 GitHub proof of concept
CISA SSVC
exploitation active, automatable no, technical impact totalAssessed by CISA 10 Feb 2025 (SSVC 2.0.3). Exploitation is none, poc (public proof of concept) or active.

GitHub proofs of concept

Listed so you can judge urgency, not as a recommendation to run anything. GitHub “proofs of concept” are unvetted: some are fake or carry malware. Exploit-DB marks the entries its staff verified.

Timeline

  1. 15 Aug 2015Published
  2. 17 Feb 2021First proof-of-concept repository on GitHub (unvetted)2,013 days (about 6 years) later
  3. 25 May 2022Added to CISA KEV (exploited in the wild)462 days (about 1 year) later
  4. 15 Jun 2022CISA remediation due date (US federal agencies)21 days later
  5. 10 Feb 2025CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation active972 days (about 3 years) later
  6. 21 Oct 2025CVE record last updated253 days (about 8 months) later
  7. 12 Nov 2026Analysed by vulneraibility.com387 days (about 1 year) later

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

MetricValueWhat it means
Attack vectorPhysicalRequires physical contact with the hardware.
Attack complexityLowRepeatable attack, no special conditions.
Privileges requiredLowThe attacker needs basic user privileges.
User interactionNoneNo victim action needed.
ScopeUnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
ConfidentialityHighTotal data disclosure possible.
IntegrityHighComplete modification possible.
AvailabilityHighFull outage possible.

Common questions

Is CVE-2015-1769 being exploited?

Yes. CVE-2015-1769 appears in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which means exploitation in the wild has been confirmed and reported. Treat it as active rather than theoretical, and patch it ahead of higher-scoring vulnerabilities that carry no exploitation evidence.

How severe is CVE-2015-1769?

CVE-2015-1769 is rated Medium with a CVSS score of 6.6. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.

Is there a patch for CVE-2015-1769?

Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2015-1769. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.

What does CVE-2015-1769 affect?

CVE-2015-1769 affects microsoft:windows_10, microsoft:windows_7, microsoft:windows_8, microsoft:windows_8.1, and 5 further products or versions. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.

Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.

References

NVDCVE.orgCVE DetailsSource

4 references in the CVE record, grouped by the tags the record gives them.

Advisories (1)

Other links (3)

Where the data on this page comes from

Summary, impact and triage tags: written by our AI analysis pipeline from the sources above. Check them against the sources.

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