CVE-2021-36934 — Microsoft Windows SAM Local Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

<p>An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists because of overly permissive Access Control Lists (ACLs) on multiple system files, including the Security Accounts Manager (SAM) database. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could run arbitrary code wi

01What is this vulnerability?

<p>An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists because of overly permissive Access Control Lists (ACLs) on multiple system files, including the Security Accounts Manager (SAM) database. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could run arbitrary code with SYSTEM privileges. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full…

02Affected products

03Active exploitation status

Yes — actively exploited. Added to the CISA KEV catalog on 2022-02-10. Ransomware use: Unknown.

04Recommended remediation

• Patch to a fixed version listed in the vendor advisory (see references below).
• Mitigate with WAF rules, network egress filters, or feature flags where the patch is not yet available.
• Hunt historical logs for exploitation indicators — see Detection signatures below.

05Technical details

For the full vendor write-up, exploit chains, and reference implementations, see the references list in section 09.

06Detection signatures

Open the Sigma generator with a pre-filled prompt for this CVE to draft a starting detection in your stack of choice:

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07Related CVEs

No directly-cited follow-up CVEs in the KB record for this advisory. The references list in section 09 carries the vendor cross-references.

08Timeline

• Published: 2021-07-22T07:05:12.000Z
• Last modified: 2025-10-21T23:25:40.056Z
• Added to CISA KEV: 2022-02-10
• BOD 22-01 due: 2022-02-24

09References

• portal.msrc.microsoft.com — https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2021-3693…
• packetstormsecurity.com — http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/164006/HiveNightmare-AKA-SeriousSAM.html