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Windows Power Dependency Coordinator Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
An elevation of privilege vulnerability in the Windows Power Dependency Coordinator component allows an attacker to gain higher privileges on a vulnerable Windows system. The flaw affects the Power Dependency Coordinator subsystem and was confirmed by Microsoft as exploited in the wild at the time of disclosure. Publicly available supporting information identifies the issue as a local privilege escalation vulnerability with a CVSS score of 7.8, but does not provide sufficient technical detail about the specific vulnerable function, root cause, or exploitation primitive to attribute a precise CWE with confidence.
What it means and what to do now: patch path, interim mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.
What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.
Successful exploitation allows an attacker to elevate privileges on the affected Windows host. In practical terms, this can enable a threat actor who already has code execution in a lower-privileged context to obtain more powerful local permissions and use the vulnerability as part of a broader compromise chain. As the vulnerability was reported as actively exploited in the wild, it presents heightened risk for post-compromise escalation and full system takeover when paired with an initial access vector.
If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.
If immediate patching is not possible, reduce opportunities for local code execution and post-compromise privilege escalation by restricting untrusted code execution, minimizing user rights, enforcing application control, monitoring for suspicious privilege escalation behavior, and rapidly investigating signs of initial compromise. No specific vendor mitigation beyond applying Microsoft's security update is available in the provided information.
Patch, then assume compromise.
Apply the Microsoft security updates released in August 2024 for affected Windows versions. Because the vulnerability was actively exploited in the wild and added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, patching should be prioritized across exposed and user-accessible systems, including supported Windows client and server platforms identified by Microsoft in the August 2024 security updates.
No public exploits tracked yet. Mallory keeps watching.
Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.
8 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.