CVE-2023-21768

HIGH EXPLOITED IN THE WILD

Windows Ancillary Function Driver - Privilege Escalation

Title source: llm
STIX 2.1

Exploitation Summary

CVE-2023-21768 has been observed exploited in the wild (reported by VulnCheck KEV, InTheWild.io). EIP tracks 17 public exploits from researchers including chompie1337, SamuelTulach, Malwareman007, including a Metasploit module exploits/windows/local/cve_2023_21768_afd_lpe.

AI-analyzed exploit summary This repository contains a functional local privilege escalation (LPE) exploit for CVE-2023-21768, targeting Windows AFD (Ancillary Function Driver) via arbitrary kernel write primitives. The exploit leverages IoRing mechanisms to elevate a target process to SYSTEM privileges.

Description

Windows Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Exploits (17)

nomisec WORKING POC 506 stars
by chompie1337 · local
https://github.com/chompie1337/Windows_LPE_AFD_CVE-2023-21768

This repository contains a functional local privilege escalation (LPE) exploit for CVE-2023-21768, targeting Windows AFD (Ancillary Function Driver) via arbitrary kernel write primitives. The exploit leverages IoRing mechanisms to elevate a target process to SYSTEM privileges.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Complex
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Windows 11 22H2 (with vulnerable AFD driver)
Auth required
Prerequisites: Vulnerable Windows system · Process ID of target process
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 197 stars
by SamuelTulach · local
https://github.com/SamuelTulach/nullmap

This repository contains a working proof-of-concept exploit for CVE-2023-21768, leveraging the AFD driver vulnerability to achieve local privilege escalation (LPE) on Windows 11 22H2. The exploit uses IoRing for memory read/write primitives and disables SMEP/SMAP by overwriting CR4 to execute a manually mapped driver in usermode.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Complex
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Microsoft Windows 11 22H2 (22621.525)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Windows 11 22H2 (22621.525) · Access to the target system
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 59 stars
by Malwareman007 · poc
https://github.com/Malwareman007/CVE-2023-21768

This repository contains a functional local privilege escalation (LPE) exploit for CVE-2023-21768, targeting Windows via the AFD driver and IoRing mechanism. The exploit leverages arbitrary kernel writes to elevate a target process token to SYSTEM.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Complex
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Microsoft Windows (specific versions affected by CVE-2023-21768)
Auth required
Prerequisites: Local access to a vulnerable Windows system · Basic user privileges to execute the exploit
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WRITEUP 27 stars
by cl4ym0re · poc
https://github.com/cl4ym0re/cve-2023-21768-compiled

This repository is a writeup for CVE-2023-21768, referencing a compiled version of an exploit for a Windows LPE vulnerability. It includes a screenshot and links to the original exploit code but does not contain the actual exploit code itself.

Classification
Writeup 90%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Theoretical
Target: Microsoft Windows 22H2 (22621.963)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Access to a vulnerable Windows system
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 23 stars
by P4x1s · poc
https://github.com/P4x1s/CVE-2023-21768-POC

This repository contains a proof-of-concept exploit for CVE-2023-21768, a local privilege escalation vulnerability in Windows 11 22H2. The exploit targets a process ID to elevate its privileges to SYSTEM.

Classification
Working Poc 90%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Windows 11 22H2
Auth required
Prerequisites: Local access to the target system · Valid process ID to escalate
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 16 stars
by zoemurmure · local
https://github.com/zoemurmure/CVE-2023-21768-AFD-for-WinSock-EoP-exploit

This repository contains a working exploit for CVE-2023-21768, an elevation of privilege (EoP) vulnerability in the Windows Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock (afd.sys). The exploit leverages arbitrary read/write primitives to achieve privilege escalation on Windows 11.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Complex
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Windows 11 22621.963 (afd.sys)
Auth required
Prerequisites: Local access to a vulnerable Windows system · Ability to execute arbitrary code with low privileges
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 14 stars
by xboxoneresearch · local
https://github.com/xboxoneresearch/CVE-2023-21768-dotnet

This is a C# port of the CVE-2023-21768 exploit, which targets a local privilege escalation vulnerability in the Windows AFD (Ancillary Function Driver) for WinSock. The exploit leverages unsafe memory operations and IoRing APIs to achieve elevation of privileges.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Complex
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Microsoft Windows (AFD for WinSock)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Local access to a vulnerable Windows system · PowerShell execution capabilities
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 4 stars
by HKxiaoli · local
https://github.com/HKxiaoli/Windows_AFD_LPE_CVE-2023-21768

This repository contains a functional local privilege escalation (LPE) exploit for CVE-2023-21768, targeting Windows AFD (Ancillary Function Driver) via arbitrary kernel write primitives. The exploit leverages IoRing and AFD socket manipulation to elevate a target process to SYSTEM privileges.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Complex
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Windows 11 22H2 (with vulnerable AFD driver)
Auth required
Prerequisites: Vulnerable Windows system · Local access to the target machine · Process ID of the target process to elevate
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 3 stars
by ahiahai242 · poc
https://github.com/ahiahai242/CVE-2023-21768

This repository contains a functional exploit for CVE-2023-21768, targeting a local privilege escalation (LPE) vulnerability in the Windows AFD (Ancillary Function Driver) via crafted IOCTL requests. The exploit leverages arbitrary kernel write primitives to achieve privilege escalation.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Complex
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Windows AFD (Ancillary Function Driver)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Windows system with vulnerable AFD driver · Local access to execute the exploit
devstral-2 · analyzed Jun 16, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 2 stars
by h1bAna · local
https://github.com/h1bAna/CVE-2023-21768

This is a local privilege escalation (LPE) exploit for CVE-2023-21768, targeting a vulnerability in the Windows Ancillary Function Driver (AFD). The exploit leverages arbitrary kernel write primitives to achieve privilege escalation by manipulating IoCompletion objects and AFD socket operations.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Complex
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Microsoft Windows (AFD.sys)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Local access to a vulnerable Windows system · Kernel write primitive via AFD socket manipulation
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 1 stars
by IlanDudnik · local
https://github.com/IlanDudnik/CVE-2023-21768

This repository contains a proof-of-concept exploit for CVE-2023-21768, leveraging IO Rings to achieve arbitrary memory write primitives on Windows 22H2. The exploit involves socket manipulation and memory corruption techniques to demonstrate the vulnerability.

Classification
Working Poc 90%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Complex
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Microsoft Windows 22H2 (22621.963)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Windows 22H2 environment · Compiled binary with appropriate permissions
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 1 stars
by Rosayxy · local
https://github.com/Rosayxy/Recreate-cve-2023-21768

This repository contains a proof-of-concept exploit for CVE-2023-21768, leveraging an arbitrary kernel write primitive in AFD.sys via IoRing. The exploit targets Windows 11 202209 and demonstrates privilege escalation by manipulating kernel memory.

Classification
Working Poc 90%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Complex
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Microsoft Windows 11 202209 (AFD.sys)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Windows 11 202209 environment · Visual Studio 2022 for compilation · Hyper-V for testing
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC
by r4uzn · local
https://github.com/r4uzn/CVE-2023-21768

This repository contains a functional exploit PoC for CVE-2023-21768, demonstrating a local privilege escalation (LPE) via AFD (Ancillary Function Driver) for WinSock and IoRing object corruption. The exploit leverages an AFD write primitive to corrupt IoRing metadata, enabling arbitrary kernel read/write operations to replace a target process token.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Complex
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Microsoft Windows (AFD.sys and IoRing)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Windows system with vulnerable AFD.sys and IoRing support · Local user access
devstral-2 · analyzed Jun 11, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC
by radoi-teodor · local
https://github.com/radoi-teodor/CVE-2023-21768-DSE-Bypass

This PoC exploits CVE-2023-21768, a vulnerability in Windows AFD (Ancillary Function Driver) to achieve arbitrary kernel write via IoRing manipulation. It bypasses DSE (Driver Signature Enforcement) to load an unsigned driver, demonstrating a local privilege escalation (LPE) attack.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Complex
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Microsoft Windows (AFD driver, IoRing)
Auth required
Prerequisites: Administrative privileges (SeDebugPrivilege) · Windows system with vulnerable AFD driver
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC
by ldrx30 · local
https://github.com/ldrx30/CVE-2023-21768

This is a working proof-of-concept exploit for CVE-2023-21768, leveraging IoRing and AFD socket manipulation to achieve arbitrary kernel read/write primitives, ultimately spawning a SYSTEM shell.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Complex
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Microsoft Windows (specific version not specified)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Windows system with vulnerable IoRing implementation · Ability to execute arbitrary code at user level
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 16, 2026 Full analysis →
metasploit WORKING POC EXCELLENT
by chompie, b33f, Yarden Shafir, Christophe De La Fuente · rubypocwin
https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/windows/local/cve_2023_21768_afd_lpe.rb

This Metasploit module exploits CVE-2023-21768, a privilege escalation vulnerability in the Windows Ancillary Function Driver (afd.sys) via a kernel Write-Where primitive. It targets Windows 11 22H2 (build 22621.963 or earlier) and leverages reflective DLL injection to execute a privileged payload.

Classification
Working Poc 100%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Complex
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Windows 11 22H2 (afd.sys)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Local access to a vulnerable Windows 11 22H2 system · Unpatched system (build ≤ 22621.963)
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 19, 2026 Full analysis →
patchapalooza WORKING POC
by nu1lptr0 · local
https://github.com/nu1lptr0/LPE_afd.sys

This repository contains a functional exploit for CVE-2023-21768, a local privilege escalation vulnerability in the Windows AFD.sys driver. The exploit leverages an arbitrary write bug via the AFDNotifySock IOCTL to overwrite kernel memory and escalate privileges.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Complex
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Windows AFD.sys driver (Windows 10/11)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Windows system with vulnerable AFD.sys driver · Local user access
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 23, 2026 Full analysis →

References (1)

Core 1
Core References

Scores

CVSS v3 7.8
EPSS 0.6542
EPSS Percentile 99.2%
Attack Vector LOCAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CISA SSVC

Vulnrichment
Exploitation none
Automatable no
Technical Impact total

Details

VulnCheck KEV 2023-03-14
InTheWild.io 2023-03-14
CWE
CWE-822
Status published
Products (3)
microsoft/windows_11 21h2 (2 CPE variants)
microsoft/windows_11 22h2 (2 CPE variants)
microsoft/windows_server_2022
Published Jan 10, 2023
Tracked Since Feb 18, 2026