CVE-2024-21338

HIGH KEV RANSOMWARE

Windows Kernel - Privilege Escalation

Title source: llm
STIX 2.1

Exploitation Summary

CVE-2024-21338 is actively exploited and listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, added March 4, 2024, with confirmed use in ransomware campaigns. EIP tracks 11 public exploits from researchers including Milad karimi, E1 Coders, hakaioffsec.

AI-analyzed exploit summary This exploit demonstrates a kernel privilege escalation vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 11 by leveraging the AppLocker driver's IOCTL interface to manipulate kernel structures. It includes functions to locate kernel objects, scan for patterns, and send crafted IOCTL requests to achieve privilege escalation.

Description

Windows Kernel Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Exploits (11)

exploitdb WORKING POC
by Milad karimi · clocalwindows
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/52275

This exploit demonstrates a kernel privilege escalation vulnerability in Microsoft Windows 11 by leveraging the AppLocker driver's IOCTL interface to manipulate kernel structures. It includes functions to locate kernel objects, scan for patterns, and send crafted IOCTL requests to achieve privilege escalation.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Complex
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Microsoft Windows 11 (builds < 22000 and >= 22000)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Access to a vulnerable Windows 11 system · Ability to execute arbitrary code on the target system
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
exploitdb SUSPICIOUS
by E1 Coders · rubylocalwindows
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/51946

The provided code is a Metasploit module template that lacks specific exploit logic for CVE-2024-21338. It references a generic 'FooBar' service and does not include technical details or functional exploit code for the vulnerability.

Classification
Suspicious 90%
Attack Type
Other
Complexity
Trivial
Reliability
Theoretical
Target: Microsoft Windows 10.0.17763.5458
No auth needed
Prerequisites: None specified
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 315 stars
by hakaioffsec · local
https://github.com/hakaioffsec/CVE-2024-21338

This repository contains a functional local privilege escalation (LPE) exploit for CVE-2024-21338, targeting Windows 10/11 with HVCI enabled. The exploit manipulates tokens to escalate from admin to kernel privileges, as evidenced by the detailed token manipulation and impersonation logic in the provided C++ code.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Complex
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Windows 10 and Windows 11 with HVCI enabled
Auth required
Prerequisites: Admin-level access on the target system · HVCI enabled on the target system
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 74 stars
by Crowdfense · local
https://github.com/Crowdfense/CVE-2024-21338

This repository contains a functional local privilege escalation (LPE) exploit for CVE-2024-21338, targeting a vulnerability in the Windows AppLocker driver (appid.sys). The exploit manipulates kernel memory to escalate privileges to SYSTEM by overwriting the token of the current process.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Complex
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Windows AppLocker Driver (appid.sys)
Auth required
Prerequisites: Vulnerable version of appid.sys · Local access to the target system
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 42 stars
by tykawaii98 · local
https://github.com/tykawaii98/CVE-2024-21338_PoC

This repository contains a functional exploit PoC for CVE-2024-21338, targeting a Windows kernel vulnerability. The code demonstrates a local privilege escalation (LPE) by manipulating kernel structures to escalate privileges to SYSTEM.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Complex
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Windows 10 22H2 (10.0.19045.3930) with KB5034122
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Access to a vulnerable Windows system · Ability to execute arbitrary code on the target
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec STUB 7 stars
by Zombie-Kaiser · poc
https://github.com/Zombie-Kaiser/CVE-2024-21338-x64-build-

The repository contains only a README.md file with minimal information about CVE-2024-21338, describing it as a local privilege escalation vulnerability on Windows 10/11 with HVCI enabled. No exploit code, technical details, or proof-of-concept is provided.

Classification
Stub 90%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Theoretical
Reliability
Theoretical
Target: Windows 10 and Windows 11 with HVCI enabled
Auth required
Prerequisites: Admin privileges on target system · HVCI enabled
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 2 stars
by hackyboiz · local
https://github.com/hackyboiz/kcfg-bypass

This repository contains a functional exploit for CVE-2024-21338, demonstrating a kernel configuration bypass via IOCTL manipulation to achieve local privilege escalation. The code leverages NtDeviceIoControlFile to overwrite a kernel pointer with a gadget address, leading to arbitrary code execution in kernel mode.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Complex
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Windows Kernel (specific version not specified)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Access to a vulnerable Windows system · Ability to execute arbitrary code in user mode
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC 2 stars
by UMU618 · local
https://github.com/UMU618/CVE-2024-21338

This repository contains a functional proof-of-concept exploit for CVE-2024-21338, a local privilege escalation vulnerability on Windows 10 and 11 with HVCI enabled. The exploit manipulates tokens to escalate from admin to kernel privileges, as evidenced by the detailed token manipulation code in the provided files.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Complex
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Windows 10 and Windows 11 with HVCI enabled
Auth required
Prerequisites: Admin privileges on the target system · HVCI enabled on the target system
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →
gitlab WORKING POC
by FarrimWildaxe · poc
https://gitlab.com/FarrimWildaxe/CVE-2024-21338_PoC

This repository contains a functional exploit for CVE-2024-21338, demonstrating a local privilege escalation (LPE) vulnerability in Windows 10 22H2. The exploit leverages a race condition in the AppId driver to overwrite kernel memory, ultimately escalating privileges to SYSTEM by stealing the system process token.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Complex
Reliability
Racy
Target: Microsoft Windows 10 22H2 (10.0.19045.3930)
No auth needed
Prerequisites: Windows 10 22H2 with KB5034122 update · Local user access
devstral-2 · analyzed May 25, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC
by MistyFir · poc
https://github.com/MistyFir/CVE-2024-21338-Exploit

This repository contains a functional exploit for CVE-2024-21338, targeting a local privilege escalation vulnerability in Windows via the AppID driver. The exploit includes token manipulation and process impersonation to achieve SYSTEM-level privileges.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Moderate
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Microsoft Windows (AppID driver)
Auth required
Prerequisites: Local access to a vulnerable Windows system · Ability to execute code with elevated privileges
devstral-2 · analyzed Mar 11, 2026 Full analysis →
nomisec WORKING POC
by wusijie · poc
https://github.com/wusijie/CVE-2024-21338-1

This repository contains a functional exploit PoC for CVE-2024-21338, targeting a Windows kernel vulnerability. The code demonstrates a local privilege escalation (LPE) by manipulating kernel objects and leveraging a vulnerable callback mechanism in the Windows AppIDSvc service.

Classification
Working Poc 95%
Attack Type
Lpe
Complexity
Complex
Reliability
Reliable
Target: Windows 11 22h2 Build 22621
Auth required
Prerequisites: Local access to the target system · SeDebugPrivilege enabled
devstral-2 · analyzed Feb 18, 2026 Full analysis →

Scores

CVSS v3 7.8
EPSS 0.7935
EPSS Percentile 99.1%
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 active
Automatable no
Technical Impact total

Details

CISA KEV 2024-03-04
VulnCheck KEV 2024-02-13
InTheWild.io 2024-02-13
ENISA EUVD EUVD-2024-19050
Ransomware Use Confirmed
CWE
CWE-822
Status published
Products (9)
microsoft/windows_10_1809 < 10.0.17763.5458
microsoft/windows_10_21h2 < 10.0.19044.4046
microsoft/windows_10_22h2 < 10.0.19045.4046
microsoft/windows_11_21h2 < 10.0.22000.2777
microsoft/windows_11_22h2 < 10.0.22621.3155
microsoft/windows_11_23h2 < 10.0.22631.3155
microsoft/windows_server_2019 < 10.0.17763.5458
microsoft/windows_server_2022 < 10.0.20348.2322
microsoft/windows_server_2022_23h2 < 10.0.25398.709
Published Feb 13, 2024
KEV Added Mar 04, 2024
Tracked Since Feb 18, 2026