Microsoft Active Directory Domain Services Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
CVE-2022-26923 is a security vulnerability in Microsoft Active Directory, added to CISA KEV on August 18, 2022. Patch priority: Plan to patch.
What it is
An authenticated user could manipulate attributes on computer accounts they own or manage, and acquire a certificate from Active Directory Certificate Services that would allow for privilege escalation to SYSTEM.
Who's affected
Affects anyone running Microsoft Active Directory. Microsoft products in a small practice typically sit close to credentials, email, or document workflows — treat the patch as in-scope.
What to do
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
If you don't have someone in-house to verify the patch deployed across every endpoint — or you're not sure whether you're affected — that's exactly the kind of triage we do. Book a free 20-minute triage call.
Insurance readiness
Your insurer will ask if this is patched.
Unpatched entries on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list are exactly what cyber-insurance carrier questionnaires probe for, and knowing which controls they check is how you keep a renewal from stalling.
Get the free carrier questionnaire →Severity
CVSS base score: 8.8 — HIGH
Weakness classification: CWE-295
Microsoft fix
- KB5025229 (Security Update)
- KB5013945 (Security Update)
- KB5013942 (Security Update)
- KB5025230 (Security Update)
- KB5025224 (Security Update)
- KB5013963 (Security Update)
- KB5025228 (Security Update)
- KB5014011 (Monthly Rollup)
- KB5014001 (Security Only)
- KB5014025 (ServicingStackUpdate)
- KB5025285 (Monthly Rollup)
- KB5025288 (Security Only)
Microsoft Exploitability Index (assessed at update release): Exploitation More Likely
This CVE is on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Microsoft's index reflects their release-time forecast, not current observed activity, and is not automatically revised upward when exploitation appears later.
Vendor workaround
Vendor-published mitigation
Mitigation refers to a setting, common configuration, or general best-practice, existing in a default state, that could reduce the severity of exploitation of a vulnerability. The following mitigating factors might be helpful in your situation:
A system is vulnerable only if both the Active Directory Certificate Services role and the Active Directory Domain Services role are installed on a server in the network. Note that they would not necessarily need to be on the same server.
A workaround reduces exposure while you patch — it is not a substitute for the update. Install the fix above as soon as you can.
CISA due date
Federal deadline: September 8, 2022. Federal agencies must complete the required action by this date. For private SMBs the deadline is advisory — but treat it as a strong recommendation, especially if you handle regulated data (HIPAA, GLBA, ABA model rules).
EPSS
EPSS score: 83.0% — higher than 100% of all scored CVEs.
EPSS estimates the probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days. Every entry on this site is already confirmed exploited, so read it as relative urgency among the things you still have open, not as permission to wait.
Other exploited Microsoft Active Directory entries
More CISA KEV entries for Microsoft Active Directory. Same product line, same actively-exploited status.
Source
This entry comes from CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, public US-Government data we pull daily. The plain-language framing and the what-to-do guidance above are ours. View the original entry on cisa.gov.