Microsoft Windows Kernel Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in Microsoft Windows when the Windows kernel fails to properly handle parsing of certain symbolic links. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could potentially access privileged registry keys and thereby elevate permissions. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights.

To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would first have to log on to the system. An attacker could then run a specially crafted application that could exploit the vulnerability and take control of an affected system. The update addresses this vulnerability by correcting how the Windows kernel parses symbolic links.