CVE-2021-31956

CRITICALNVD 7.89.0▲
EchelonGraph scoreHIGH confidence

Score elevated to 9.0 because this CVE is listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2021-11-03), indicating real-world exploitation has been confirmed by US federal agencies. NVD baseline CVSS 7.8 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: 20%CVSS: 7.8Exploit: cisa kev · ssvc active · epss top5pct · public exploitExposed: 0

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

Windows NTFS Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

CVSS v3
7.8
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
20%
EPSS %ILE
97%
KEV
⚠ Exploited

Published

June 8, 2021

Last Modified

January 13, 2026

Advisory Details (2)

Auto-updated Jun 3, 2026
⚠️ Active exploitation confirmed. Patch available. Sources: cisa, microsoft.
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-2021-31956
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-2021-31956

Weakness Classification(2)

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 66× in last 7d / 358× 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 702 total refreshes for this CVE.

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

Publicly available exploits

(2 references)

Working exploit code is in the public domain (2 GitHub PoCs). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.

  • GitHub PoChoangprod/CVE-2021-31956-POC
    First seen Jun 5, 2023
    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCY3A/CVE-2021-31956
    First seen Sep 2, 2022

    Win10 20H2 LPE for CVE-2021-31956

    Open source ↗

Related CVEs(same vendor + same CWE)

Frequently asked(6)

What is CVE-2021-31956?
CVE-2021-31956 is a critical vulnerability published on June 8, 2021. Windows NTFS Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
When was CVE-2021-31956 disclosed?
CVE-2021-31956 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on June 8, 2021, with the most recent update on January 13, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2021-31956 actively exploited?
Yes. CISA added CVE-2021-31956 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on November 3, 2021, affecting Microsoft Windows. KEV listing indicates confirmed exploitation in the wild; this CVE warrants immediate patching attention.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2021-31956?
CVE-2021-31956 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.8 (NVD). EchelonGraph synthesises NVD + CISA KEV + FIRST EPSS + GHSA into a combined EG score of 9.0.
Which products are affected by CVE-2021-31956?
CVE-2021-31956 affects Microsoft Windows. 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-2021-31956?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2021-31956, 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-2021-31956

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