Threats / Microsoft / CVE-2002-0367
CVE-2002-0367
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-09-19
Microsoft Windows vulnerability
The smss.exe debugging subsystem in Microsoft Windows fails to properly authenticate programs connecting to other processes, allowing local users to escalate privileges to administrator or SYSTEM level.
Verdict
Today item — known-exploited.
A local privilege escalation vulnerability in Windows session manager subsystem authentication. Attackers with local access can exploit improper program connection validation to gain elevated system privileges. Exploitation has been observed in the wild.
CISA KEV Yes · 2022-03-034EPSS 0.04919 (verify live)5CVSS 7.8 (CISA)3CISA SSVC Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Impact: total3
01
Is it exploitable?
— the evidence, ranked above the scoreReported exploitation
2 independent public reports of in-the-wild exploitation are cataloged.Distinct reporting sources (vendor, incident response, government); open them for the underlying claims.
Exploited in the wild
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-03-03).
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.04919 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
CVSS 7.8 (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) · Affected: Microsoft, Windows. Confirm exact fixed builds in the vendor advisory.CVSS — CISA-assigned via the ADP container (CVE.org), version 3.1; the CNA left no metrics, so CISA's own score is used ahead of NVD.
CISA SSVC (triage disposition)
Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Technical Impact: totalCISA's own stakeholder-specific triage inputs, published in the CVE record (CISA Coordinator role). NOTE: this is CISA's three decision points; the final Act/Attend/Track decision also requires a Mission & Well-being input not published here, so no overall decision is asserted.
Currency of the record
CISA added this to its KEV catalog 6910 days after the CVE record was published.KEV lag = CISA-KEV dateAdded − CVE.org datePublished; a floor on how long the known-exploited flaw sat in the public record before the federal catalog listed it. Severity/weakness here is CNA- or CISA-assigned (current at disclosure), independent of NVD's analysis backlog.
02
Who’s exploiting it?
— attribution turns risk into urgencyAttribution not established
No confirmed (advisory-backed) threat-actor attribution is established for this record. Absence of a named actor is not absence of compromise — see Coverage & confidence.
03
Why it matters
— the attack path, told twice: adversary, then board1
Front door — unauthenticated access narrative 1
Attacker
I gain local access to a Windows system as an unprivileged user.
Business
An attacker establishes a foothold on the network with standard user permissions.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I craft a malicious program that connects to the smss.exe debugging subsystem without proper authentication.
Business
The organization's access controls fail to prevent unauthorized process communication.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
I exploit the authentication bypass to execute code with administrator or SYSTEM privileges.
Business
The attacker gains complete control over the compromised system and can access all data and resources.
04
What to do
— defensible action- Remediate per the vendor advisory — confirm the fixed build for your version and verify exposure.1
Say it to the boardA vulnerability with this evidence profile is a defensible budget line, not a backlog ticket — fund the change against the proof above.
05
Coverage & confidence
— what we know, and what we don’tEstablished (cited)
Coverage gaps — stated, not hidden
Disclosure & credit2
Catalogued by mitreCNA
Credited with finding itNo finder is named in the public CVE record or the scanned vendor advisory — attribution scoped to the sources checked.
Found an error? Propose a correction.
A correction is a cited counter-claim — it must cite a source,
gets reviewed by a second human, and is never auto-applied. See the
correction convention and our identity
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