CVE-2011-1985 vulnerability in Microsoft Products
Published on October 12, 2011

win32k.sys in the kernel-mode drivers in Microsoft Windows XP SP2 and SP3, Windows Server 2003 SP2, Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 SP2, R2, and R2 SP1, and Windows 7 Gold and SP1 does not properly validate user-mode input, which allows local users to gain privileges or cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference and system crash) via a crafted application, aka "Win32k Null Pointer De-reference Vulnerability."

Vendor Advisory NVD

Vulnerability Analysis

CVE-2011-1985 can be exploited with local system access, and requires small amount of user privileges. This vulnerability is considered to have a low attack complexity. The potential impact of an exploit of this vulnerability is considered to have a high impact on confidentiality, with no impact on integrity, and a high impact on availability.

Attack Vector:

LOCAL

Attack Complexity:

LOW

Privileges Required:

LOW

User Interaction:

NONE

Scope:

UNCHANGED

Confidentiality Impact:

HIGH

Integrity Impact:

NONE

Availability Impact:

HIGH

Weakness Type

NULL Pointer Dereference

A NULL pointer dereference occurs when the application dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid, but is NULL, typically causing a crash or exit. NULL pointer dereference issues can occur through a number of flaws, including race conditions, and simple programming omissions.

Products Associated with CVE-2011-1985

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Microsoft Windows Server 2008

Microsoft Windows XP

Microsoft Windows 7

Microsoft Windows Server 2003

Microsoft Windows Vista

Microsoft Windows 2003 Server

Exploit Probability

EPSS

3.37%

Percentile

87.16%