Summary Microsoft was notified that an elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in Windows Update, potentially enabling an attacker with basic user privileges to reintroduce previously mitigated vulnerabilities or circumvent some features of Virtualization Based Security (VBS). However, an attacker attempting to exploit this vulnerability requires additional interaction by a privileged user to be successful. Microsoft has developed a security update to mitigate this threat which was made available October 08, 2024 and is provided in the Security Updates table of this CVE for customers to download. **Note:**Depending on your version of Windows, additional steps may be required to update Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) to be protected from this vulnerability. Please refer to the FAQ section for more information. Guidance for customers who cannot immediately implement the update is provided in the Recommended Actions section of this CVE to help reduce the risks associated with this vulnerability and to protect their systems. If there are any further updates regarding mitigations for this vulnerability, this CVE will be updated and customers will be notified. We highly encourage customers to subscribe to Security Update Guide notifications to receive an alert if an update occurs. Details A security researcher informed Microsoft of an elevation of privilege vulnerability in Windows Update potentially enabling an attacker with basic user privileges to reintroduce previously mitigated vulnerabilities or circumvent some features of VBS. For exploitation to succeed, an attacker must trick or convince an Administrator or a user with delegated permissions into performing a system restore which inadvertently triggers the vulnerability. Microsoft has developed a security update to mitigate this threat which was made available October 08, 2024 and is provided in the Security Updates table of this CVE for customers to download. **Note:**Depending on your version of Windows, additional steps may be required to update Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) to be protected from this vulnerability. Please refer to the FAQ section for more information. Guidance for customers who cannot immediately implement the update is provided in the Recommended Actions section of this CVE to help reduce the risks associated with this vulnerability and to protect their systems. If there are any... See more at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2024-38202
https://thehackernews.com/2024/10/researchers-uncover-os-downgrade.html
https://www.safebreach.com/blog/update-on-windows-downdate-downgrade-attacks/
https://www.tenable.com/blog/microsofts-august-2024-patch-tuesday-addresses-88-cves
https://thehackernews.com/2024/08/microsoft-warns-of-unpatched-office.html
https://www.safebreach.com/blog/downgrade-attacks-using-windows-updates/
https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2024-38202
https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/en-US/vulnerability/CVE-2024-38202
Published: 2024-08-08
Updated: 2024-10-16
Base Score: 6.5
Vector: CVSS2#AV:L/AC:L/Au:M/C:C/I:C/A:C
Severity: Medium
Base Score: 7.3
Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Severity: High
Base Score: 7.3
Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H
Severity: High