Vulnerability report

Trusted Third Party Report Confirmed Confidence In CISA KEV

CVE-2015-1701

Windows

Microsoft / Windows

Watch CVE-2015-1701 Browse KEV feed
Severity
CVSS 7.8 · High
Confidence
Confirmed
Exploit status
Trusted Third Party Report
EPSS
56.2%
First observed
—
Last observed
—

Decision summary

What security teams need to know first

Direct answers before the deeper technical record.

What it is

CVE-2015-1701 is a vulnerability affecting Microsoft Windows.

Have exploitation attempts been observed?

Yes. Exploitation attempts have been reported for this vulnerability. Previdian lists it as a known exploited vulnerability. Listed in CISA KEV. Also reported by third-party sources. Confidence is confirmed.

Who is affected?

Microsoft / Windows.

What should we do?

Prioritize remediation. Validate affected assets and apply vendor fixes on an accelerated timeline.

Overview

Windows

Win32k.sys in the kernel-mode drivers in Microsoft Windows Server 2003 SP2, Vista SP2, and Server 2008 SP2 allows local users to gain privileges via a crafted application, as exploited in the wild in April 2015, aka "Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability."

View vendor advisory (opens in new tab)
Published
21 Apr 2015
Exploitation Attempts Reported
03 Mar 2022
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None

Tags

metasploit cisa ransomware windows malware microsoft metasploit_scanner

CVE References

Exploitation evidence

Evidence of exploitation attempts

Third-party attestation and first-party sensor observation are shown separately so teams can judge the evidence chain.

Exploitation Attempts Observed in the Wild

CISA

Recorded 03 Mar 2022

A trusted third party reported exploitation attempts.

Targeted by Malware-Related Exploitation Attempts

CISA

Recorded 03 Mar 2022

Exploitation attempts against this vulnerability are associated with malware-related payloads.

Proof of concept available

GitHub

Recorded 12 May 2015

Public scanner or PoC coverage increases practical exploitability.

Known exploited vulnerability sources

Per-source evidence links for KEV attestations are available through the Previdian Pro API.

Learn about Pro API access
Source Added
CISA First 2022-03-03 00:00 UTC
CVE 2026-08-14 04:30 UTC

Detection

Operational artifacts and observed signals

Make the evidence actionable in scanner, SOC, and edge-control workflows.

Virtual patch status

No Previdian virtual patch is currently available. Future rules ship for ModSecurity, Cloudflare, and AWS WAF.

Learn about virtual patches →

Scanner Artifacts

Scanner and exploit-framework references linked to this CVE.

Scanner Reference Detected
Metasploit https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/master/modules/exploits/windows/local/ms15_051_client_copy_image.rb 28 Apr 2025

Risk and context

Severity, weaknesses, and research context

CVSS v3.1

7.8 High

Potential damage if exploited. Separate from whether attackers are using it.

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS

56.2%

Estimated chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Previdian's warning comes from evidence, not this score.

All CVSS Scores

CVSS v3.1 7.8 High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVSS v2.0 7.2 High

AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

Potential Proof of Concepts

These PoCs are unverified and could contain malware. Use at your own risk.

ms15_051_client_copy_image

metasploit · Created Unknown

Metasploit module for CVE-2015-1701

Timeline

From disclosure to observed exploitation attempts

  1. 04:30 UTC

    KEV confirmed by CVE

    Exploitation attempts reported by an external source

  2. 15:03 UTC

    Metasploit module available

    Exploit module available

  3. 15:03 UTC

    Public PoC available

    Public proof-of-concept code published

  4. 00:00 UTC

    Added to CISA KEV

    Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

  5. 00:00 UTC

    Targeted by malware-related exploitation attempts

    Malware-related exploitation attempts or payloads reported

  6. 10:00 UTC

    CVE published

    Vulnerability disclosed publicly

  7. 00:00 UTC

    CVE ID reserved

    Identifier reserved by the CNA

Pro API

Automate this intelligence

Confidence, exploit status, sensor telemetry, PoCs, scanner integrations, mentions, and tags are available programmatically for VM, SOC, and CTI workflows.

Start 14-day Pro trial Read API docs
  • Evidence confidence and provenance
  • First-party sensor telemetry
  • PoC and scanner references
  • Affected versions and enrichment
  • Automation-ready JSON delivery

GET /api/v2/pro/kevs/CVE-2015-1701

Sample API response 
{
  "cve_id": "CVE-2015-1701",
  "confidence": "Confirmed",
  "cvss_score": 7.8,
  "cvss_estimated": false,
  "epss_score": 0.562,
  "exploit_status": {
    "exploited_in_the_wild": true,
    "active_exploitation_observed": false
  },
  "sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 0, "sensors": 0 }
}