CVE-2022-21882: 
vulnerability analysis and mitigation

CVE-2022-21882 is a Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability that was discovered and disclosed in January 2022. The vulnerability affects the Win32k component in various versions of Microsoft Windows, including Windows 10, Windows 11, Windows Server 2019, and Windows Server 2022 (NVD, Microsoft Advisory).

The vulnerability has been assigned a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.8 (High) by NIST and 7.0 (High) by Microsoft. The vulnerability vector is CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H, indicating that it requires local access and low privileges to exploit. The flaw is classified as CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write) and affects the Win32k.sys driver (NVD).

A successful exploitation of this vulnerability allows a local, authenticated attacker to gain elevated local system or administrator privileges through a vulnerability in the Win32k.sys driver. This elevation of privilege could enable an attacker to execute arbitrary code with system-level privileges (NVD, Hacker News).

Microsoft addressed this vulnerability in its January 2022 Patch Tuesday updates. CISA has mandated Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) agencies to patch all systems against this vulnerability by February 18, 2022. Organizations are strongly advised to apply the security updates provided by Microsoft to mitigate this vulnerability (Hacker News).