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CVE-2024-38193 is an elevation-of-privilege vulnerability in the Windows Ancillary Function Driver for WinSock (AFD.sys). Available reporting identifies the flaw as a use-after-free condition in the Winsock kernel driver. Exploitation allows an attacker to corrupt kernel state and obtain a kernel memory manipulation primitive. Observed exploitation used this access to tamper with kernel structures, including modification of the KTHREAD PreviousMode field, in order to bypass kernel-mode checks on system calls and transition from user mode to kernel-level capabilities. The vulnerability has been reported as affecting Windows 10 and Windows 11, including version 23H2 and earlier, and it was exploited in the wild to deploy the FudModule rootkit.
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1 valid exploit after Mallory filtered fakes, detection scripts, and README-only repos (1 hidden).
This repository contains a local privilege escalation exploit for CVE-2024-38193, targeting the Windows AFD (Ancillary Function Driver) kernel component. The exploit is implemented in C++ and consists of two main code files: 'poc.cpp' and 'poc.h'. The code interacts directly with Windows kernel objects and system calls, including custom usage of NtCreateFile, NtDeviceIoControlFile, and other NT APIs. The exploit crafts and manipulates AFD endpoints (\\Device\\Afd\\Endpoint) and named pipes to achieve arbitrary kernel read/write primitives. It then leverages these primitives to steal the SYSTEM process token, resulting in privilege escalation. The exploit is operational and tested on Windows 11 Pro 23H2 (build 22631.3447). No network or remote attack vector is present; the exploit must be run locally. The repository includes Visual Studio project files and build artifacts, but the core exploit logic resides in the C++ source files.
Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.
Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.
21 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.
A previously exploited AFD.sys vulnerability referenced as another earlier Lazarus privilege-escalation path for deploying FudModule.
A separate earlier AFD.sys use-after-free vulnerability previously linked to Lazarus’s FudModule rootkit, mentioned here as historical context and comparison to the new exploit.
A previously exploited AFD.sys use-after-free vulnerability mentioned as an earlier flaw linked to Lazarus deployment of FudModule.
A previously exploited afd.sys zero-day reportedly used by Lazarus, mentioned as historical context.
Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.
Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.
Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.
YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.
Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.
Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.