CVE-2018-8120

CRITICALNVD 7.09.0▲
EchelonGraph scoreHIGH confidence

Score elevated to 9.0 because this CVE is listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-03-15), indicating real-world exploitation has been confirmed by US federal agencies. NVD baseline CVSS 7.0 retained for reference. Confidence: HIGH.

Triggered by: CISA KEV (actively exploited)
Sources: cisa_kev, epss, ghsa, nvd
Trending — 5 sources updated this weekExploited in the wild
9.0EG
EchelonGraph verdictPatch nowTreat as an emergency — this is being exploited.
  • Actively exploited in the wild (CISA-KEV)
CISA-KEV: ExploitedEPSS PROB: 74%CVSS: 7.0Exploit: cisa kev · ssvc active · kev ransomware · Metasploit · Exploit-DB (verified) · epss top5pct · epss high · public exploitExposed: 0

No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.

An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in Windows when the Win32k component fails to properly handle objects in memory, aka "Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability." This affects Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2. This CVE ID is unique from CVE-2018-8124, CVE-2018-8164, CVE-2018-8166.

CVSS v3
7.0
EG Score
9.0(high)
EG Risk
81(Attend)
EG Risk 81/100SSVC: Attend

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity90% × 45%
Exploitation100% × 40%
Automatability0% × 15%
Action: Remediate soon — notable exploitation risk.
EPSS PROB
74%
EPSS %ILE
99%
KEV
⚠ Exploited

Published

May 9, 2018

Last Modified

October 28, 2025

Advisory Details (5)

Auto-updated Jun 11, 2026
⚠️ Active exploitation confirmed. Patch available. Sources: microsoft, cisa.
cisa Patch Available🔴 Active Exploitation

Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog | CISA

Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog | CISA. Listed in CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2018-8120
generic🟡 PoC Available

Microsoft Windows - SetImeInfoEx Win32k NULL Pointer Dereference (Metasploit) - Windows local Exploit

https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/45653/
microsoft Patch Available

Security Update Guide - Microsoft Security Response Center

Security Update Guide - Microsoft Security Response Center. Patch available via Microsoft Security Update

https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2018-8120
generic
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1040849
generic
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/104034

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

All Vendor Advisories

(1)

Every vendor that published an advisory referencing this CVE — pulled from our cve_vendor_advisories aggregation. Click any row for the vendor's original advisory page.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 59× in last 7d / 332× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

Showing the most recent 100 of 647 total refreshes for this CVE.

  1. 2026-07-27 09:10 UTCVendor advisory
  2. 2026-07-27 09:09 UTCGHSA enrichment
  3. 2026-07-27 04:47 UTCVendor advisory
  4. 2026-07-27 04:47 UTCGHSA enrichment
  5. 2026-07-27 00:23 UTCVendor advisory
  6. 2026-07-27 00:23 UTCGHSA enrichment
  7. 2026-07-26 20:00 UTCVendor advisory
  8. 2026-07-26 19:59 UTCGHSA enrichment
  9. 2026-07-26 15:37 UTCEG score recompute
  10. 2026-07-26 15:37 UTCVendor advisory
  11. 2026-07-26 15:37 UTCGHSA enrichment
  12. 2026-07-26 14:51 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-07-26 11:13 UTCEG score recompute
  14. 2026-07-26 11:13 UTCVendor advisory
  15. 2026-07-26 11:13 UTCGHSA enrichment
  16. 2026-07-26 06:49 UTCVendor advisory
  17. 2026-07-26 06:49 UTCGHSA enrichment
  18. 2026-07-26 02:27 UTCEG score recompute
  19. 2026-07-26 02:27 UTCVendor advisory
  20. 2026-07-26 02:27 UTCGHSA enrichment
  21. 2026-07-25 14:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-07-25 14:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-07-24 14:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-07-24 14:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-07-23 14:15 UTCEPSS rescore
Show 75 more
  1. 2026-07-23 14:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-07-23 01:37 UTCEG score recompute
  3. 2026-07-22 22:35 UTCVendor advisory
  4. 2026-07-22 22:35 UTCGHSA enrichment
  5. 2026-07-22 22:17 UTCEG score recompute
  6. 2026-07-22 19:40 UTCCISA KEV update
  7. 2026-07-22 18:13 UTCEG score recompute
  8. 2026-07-22 18:13 UTCGHSA enrichment
  9. 2026-07-22 14:05 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-07-22 13:49 UTCGHSA enrichment
  11. 2026-07-22 09:27 UTCVendor advisory
  12. 2026-07-22 09:27 UTCGHSA enrichment
  13. 2026-07-22 05:04 UTCVendor advisory
  14. 2026-07-22 05:04 UTCGHSA enrichment
  15. 2026-07-22 00:40 UTCVendor advisory
  16. 2026-07-22 00:40 UTCGHSA enrichment
  17. 2026-07-21 19:00 UTCVendor advisory
  18. 2026-07-21 19:00 UTCGHSA enrichment
  19. 2026-07-21 14:37 UTCCISA KEV update
  20. 2026-07-21 14:37 UTCVendor advisory
  21. 2026-07-21 14:37 UTCGHSA enrichment
  22. 2026-07-21 10:15 UTCVendor advisory
  23. 2026-07-21 10:14 UTCGHSA enrichment
  24. 2026-07-21 05:50 UTCVendor advisory
  25. 2026-07-21 05:50 UTCGHSA enrichment
  26. 2026-07-21 01:27 UTCVendor advisory
  27. 2026-07-21 01:27 UTCGHSA enrichment
  28. 2026-07-20 21:05 UTCEG score recompute
  29. 2026-07-20 21:05 UTCVendor advisory
  30. 2026-07-20 21:05 UTCGHSA enrichment
  31. 2026-07-20 17:04 UTCEPSS rescore
  32. 2026-07-20 17:04 UTCEPSS rescore
  33. 2026-07-20 16:42 UTCGHSA enrichment
  34. 2026-07-20 12:20 UTCGHSA enrichment
  35. 2026-07-20 07:57 UTCVendor advisory
  36. 2026-07-20 07:57 UTCGHSA enrichment
  37. 2026-07-20 03:35 UTCVendor advisory
  38. 2026-07-20 03:35 UTCGHSA enrichment
  39. 2026-07-19 23:13 UTCVendor advisory
  40. 2026-07-19 23:13 UTCGHSA enrichment
  41. 2026-07-19 18:51 UTCVendor advisory
  42. 2026-07-19 18:51 UTCGHSA enrichment
  43. 2026-07-19 14:29 UTCEG score recompute
  44. 2026-07-19 14:29 UTCVendor advisory
  45. 2026-07-19 14:29 UTCGHSA enrichment
  46. 2026-07-19 14:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  47. 2026-07-19 14:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  48. 2026-07-19 10:07 UTCVendor advisory
  49. 2026-07-19 10:07 UTCGHSA enrichment
  50. 2026-07-19 05:45 UTCVendor advisory
  51. 2026-07-19 05:45 UTCGHSA enrichment
  52. 2026-07-19 01:22 UTCGHSA enrichment
  53. 2026-07-18 20:59 UTCVendor advisory
  54. 2026-07-18 20:59 UTCGHSA enrichment
  55. 2026-07-18 16:37 UTCVendor advisory
  56. 2026-07-18 16:37 UTCGHSA enrichment
  57. 2026-07-18 12:14 UTCEG score recompute
  58. 2026-07-18 12:14 UTCVendor advisory
  59. 2026-07-18 12:14 UTCGHSA enrichment
  60. 2026-07-18 07:52 UTCVendor advisory
  61. 2026-07-18 07:52 UTCGHSA enrichment
  62. 2026-07-18 03:30 UTCVendor advisory
  63. 2026-07-18 03:30 UTCGHSA enrichment
  64. 2026-07-17 23:08 UTCVendor advisory
  65. 2026-07-17 23:08 UTCGHSA enrichment
  66. 2026-07-17 18:46 UTCVendor advisory
  67. 2026-07-17 18:46 UTCGHSA enrichment
  68. 2026-07-17 14:24 UTCVendor advisory
  69. 2026-07-17 14:24 UTCGHSA enrichment
  70. 2026-07-17 10:02 UTCEG score recompute
  71. 2026-07-17 10:02 UTCVendor advisory
  72. 2026-07-17 10:02 UTCGHSA enrichment
  73. 2026-07-17 05:40 UTCVendor advisory
  74. 2026-07-17 05:39 UTCGHSA enrichment
  75. 2026-07-17 01:17 UTCVendor advisory

Publicly available exploits

(6 references)

Working exploit code is in the public domain (1 Metasploit module) (4 GitHub PoCs) (1 Exploit-DB entry). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.

  • Exploit-DBEDB-45653✓ verified
    First seen Oct 22, 2018

    Microsoft Windows - SetImeInfoEx Win32k NULL Pointer Dereference (Metasploit)

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCalpha1ab/CVE-2018-8120
    First seen Jun 7, 2018

    CVE-2018-8120 Exploit for Win2003 Win2008 WinXP Win7

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCne1llee/cve-2018-8120
    First seen Jun 5, 2018
    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCrip1s/CVE-2018-8120
    First seen May 19, 2018

    CVE-2018-8120 Windows LPE exploit

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCbigric3/cve-2018-8120
    First seen May 17, 2018
    Open source ↗
  • Metasploitexploit/windows/local/ms18_8120_win32k_privesc✓ verified
    First seen May 9, 2018

    Windows SetImeInfoEx Win32k NULL Pointer Dereference

    Open source ↗

Frequently asked(6)

What is CVE-2018-8120?
CVE-2018-8120 is a critical vulnerability published on May 9, 2018. An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in Windows when the Win32k component fails to properly handle objects in memory, aka "Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability." This affects Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2. This CVE ID is unique from CVE-2018-8124,…
When was CVE-2018-8120 disclosed?
CVE-2018-8120 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on May 9, 2018, with the most recent update on October 28, 2025. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2018-8120 actively exploited?
Yes. CISA added CVE-2018-8120 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on March 15, 2022, affecting Microsoft Win32k. KEV listing indicates confirmed exploitation in the wild; this CVE warrants immediate patching attention.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2018-8120?
CVE-2018-8120 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.0 (NVD). EchelonGraph synthesises NVD + CISA KEV + FIRST EPSS + GHSA into a combined EG score of 9.0.
Which products are affected by CVE-2018-8120?
CVE-2018-8120 affects Microsoft Win32k. The full affected-products list, including version ranges and fixed versions, is shown in the Affected Packages section of this page.
How do I remediate CVE-2018-8120?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2018-8120, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

Dependency Blast Radius

Explore the affected products and dependency analysis for CVE-2018-8120

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