HighCISA KEVExploited in the wildPublic exploit

Windows COM Aggregate Marshaler Elevation of Privilege

IdentifiersCVE-2017-0213CWE-269

CVE-2017-0213 is a local elevation-of-privilege vulnerability in the Windows COM Aggregate Marshaler affecting multiple Microsoft Windows versions, including Windows Server 2008 SP2 and R2 SP1, Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2, Windows RT 8.1, Windows 10 Gold/1511/1607/1703, and Windows Server 2016. According to the provided content, the flaw allows elevation of privilege when an attacker runs a specially crafted application on a vulnerable system. Microsoft refers to it as the "Windows COM Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability." The supplied material does not provide function-level root cause details beyond identifying the affected component as the Windows COM Aggregate Marshaler.

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful exploitation allows a local attacker to elevate privileges on the affected Windows host. In practical terms, this can enable execution with higher integrity or administrative/SYSTEM-level rights, facilitating post-compromise actions such as disabling defenses, credential theft, persistence, lateral movement preparation, and deployment of additional malware or ransomware. The content specifically notes use of this vulnerability by threat actors and ransomware operators as a privilege-escalation step after initial access.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

Where immediate patching is not possible, reduce exposure by limiting the ability to execute untrusted code locally, enforcing application allowlisting, restricting user rights, removing unnecessary local administrator access, and monitoring for suspicious execution of known public LPE exploit tooling. Additional mitigations include endpoint protection capable of detecting exploit behavior, attack surface reduction controls, and rapid containment of initial-access vectors such as exposed RDP or phishing-delivered malware that commonly precede use of this LPE.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Apply Microsoft's security updates for CVE-2017-0213 on all affected Windows systems. Prioritize patching legacy and unsupported-but-still-deployed hosts listed in the affected versions. Verify that endpoints and servers are updated to security levels that address the Windows COM Aggregate Marshaler flaw, and remove or upgrade systems that can no longer receive vendor fixes.

PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

No valid public exploits. Mallory filtered out 3 candidates as fakes, detection scripts, or README-only repos.

VALID 0 / 3 TOTALView more in app

All candidate exploits were filtered out by Mallory's validation.

EXPOSURE SURFACE

Affected products & vendors

Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.

VendorProductType

Microsoft CorporationWindows 10 1507operating_system

Microsoft CorporationWindows 10 1511operating_system

Microsoft CorporationWindows 10 1607operating_system

Microsoft CorporationWindows 10 1703operating_system

Microsoft CorporationWindows 7operating_system

Microsoft CorporationWindows 8.1operating_system

Microsoft CorporationWindows Rt 8.1operating_system

Microsoft CorporationWindows Server 2008operating_system

Microsoft CorporationWindows Server 2012operating_system

Microsoft CorporationWindows Server 2016operating_system

Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.

ACTIVITY FEED

Recent activity

8 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.

8 SOURCESView more in app

acronis blogNews

Dec 8, 2025

Makop ransomware: GuLoader and privilege escalation in attacks against Indian businesses

A Windows local privilege escalation vulnerability frequently used by Makop operators to obtain SYSTEM-level privileges.

web archiveNews

May 17, 2022

Space Pirates: analyzing the tools and connections of a new hacker group

A Windows privilege-escalation vulnerability (CVE-2017-0213) referenced as an option for Space Pirates to elevate privileges on compromised hosts.

sophos threat researchNews

May 27, 2020

Netwalker ransomware tools give insight into threat actor | SOPHOS

A Windows COM-related local privilege escalation vulnerability used to elevate privileges after initial access.

ptsecurityNews

Oct 9, 2018

Space Pirates: исследуем инструменты и связи новой хакерской группировки

A Windows privilege escalation vulnerability that the report states Space Pirates may use to elevate privileges.

+4 more in the timeline

What this page doesn’t show

The version that knows your environment.

This page is what’s public. Mallory adds the parts that aren’t: which of your assets are affected, which adversaries are exploiting it right now, which detections to deploy, and what to do tonight.

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Exposure mapping

Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.

Threat actor evidence5

Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.

Associated malware2

Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.

Detection signatures1

YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.

Vendor-by-vendor mapping

Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.

Social activity

Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.

EXTERNAL REFERENCES

MITRE CVE

cve.org · CVE-2017-0213

NVD

nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-0213

MITRE CWE · CWE-269

cwe.mitre.org

Patch

portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2017-0213

Third Party Advisory

exploit-db.com/exploits/42020

US Government Resource

cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2017-0213