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Vulnerabilities

CVE-2022-26904

Critical 🇺🇸 CISA KEV ⚡ Exploit Available
Microsoft Windows User Profile Service Privilege Escalation Vulnerability — Microsoft Windows User Profile Service contains an unspecified vulnerability that allows for privilege escalation.
Published: Apr 25, 2022  ·  Source: CISA_KEV
CVSS v3
9.0
🔗 NVD Official
📄 Description (English)

Microsoft Windows User Profile Service Privilege Escalation Vulnerability — Microsoft Windows User Profile Service contains an unspecified vulnerability that allows for privilege escalation.

🤖 AI Executive Summary

CVE-2022-26904 is a critical privilege escalation vulnerability in Microsoft Windows User Profile Service (CVSS 9.0) affecting multiple Windows versions. An authenticated attacker can exploit this vulnerability to gain SYSTEM-level privileges, potentially compromising entire systems. Public exploits are available, making this a high-priority threat requiring immediate patching across all Windows deployments in Saudi organizations.

📄 Description (Arabic)

🤖 AI Intelligence Analysis Analyzed: Apr 21, 2026 21:45
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia Impact Assessment
This vulnerability poses severe risk to Saudi banking sector (SAMA-regulated institutions), government agencies (NCA oversight), healthcare providers, energy sector (ARAMCO and related), and telecommunications (STC, Mobily). Any Windows-based infrastructure used for critical operations, administrative functions, or data processing is at risk. Compromised systems could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive financial data, government records, healthcare information, and operational technology systems. The availability of public exploits significantly increases attack likelihood against Saudi organizations.
🏢 Affected Saudi Sectors
Banking and Financial Services Government and Public Administration Healthcare and Medical Services Energy and Utilities Telecommunications Critical Infrastructure Education Manufacturing
⚖️ Saudi Risk Score (AI)
9.2
/ 10.0
🔧 Remediation Steps (English)
IMMEDIATE ACTIONS:
1. Identify all Windows systems in your environment (servers, workstations, domain controllers)
2. Prioritize patching for systems with administrative access and critical business functions
3. Implement network segmentation to limit lateral movement from compromised systems
4. Enable enhanced logging for User Profile Service (Event ID 1000-1999 in System log)

PATCHING GUIDANCE:
1. Apply Microsoft security updates immediately (KB5014666 or later depending on Windows version)
2. Test patches in non-production environment first
3. Deploy patches to domain controllers first, then servers, then workstations
4. Verify patch installation using 'systeminfo' command and Windows Update history

COMPENSATING CONTROLS (if patching delayed):
1. Restrict local administrator account usage and enforce MFA for privileged accounts
2. Disable unnecessary services and disable User Profile Service if not required
3. Implement AppLocker policies to restrict execution of suspicious processes
4. Monitor for privilege escalation attempts using Windows Event Viewer

DETECTION RULES:
1. Monitor Event ID 4688 (Process Creation) for suspicious child processes of services.exe
2. Alert on unexpected SYSTEM-level process creation from user sessions
3. Monitor registry modifications under HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList
4. Track failed and successful privilege escalation attempts in Security Event Log
🔧 خطوات المعالجة (العربية)
الإجراءات الفورية:
1. تحديد جميع أنظمة Windows في بيئتك (الخوادم، محطات العمل، متحكمات المجال)
2. إعطاء الأولوية لتصحيح الأنظمة التي تحتوي على وصول إداري ووظائف تجارية حرجة
3. تنفيذ تقسيم الشبكة لتحديد الحركة الجانبية من الأنظمة المخترقة
4. تفعيل السجلات المحسّنة لخدمة ملف تعريف المستخدم (معرّف الحدث 1000-1999 في سجل النظام)

إرشادات التصحيح:
1. تطبيق تحديثات أمان Microsoft فوراً (KB5014666 أو أحدث حسب إصدار Windows)
2. اختبار التصحيحات في بيئة غير الإنتاج أولاً
3. نشر التصحيحات على متحكمات المجال أولاً، ثم الخوادم، ثم محطات العمل
4. التحقق من تثبيت التصحيح باستخدام أمر 'systeminfo' وسجل Windows Update

الضوابط البديلة (إذا تأخر التصحيح):
1. تقييد استخدام حساب المسؤول المحلي وفرض MFA للحسابات المميزة
2. تعطيل الخدمات غير الضرورية وتعطيل خدمة ملف تعريف المستخدم إن لم تكن مطلوبة
3. تنفيذ سياسات AppLocker لتقييد تنفيذ العمليات المريبة
4. مراقبة محاولات تصعيد الامتيازات باستخدام عارض أحداث Windows

قواعد الكشف:
1. مراقبة معرّف الحدث 4688 (إنشاء العملية) للعمليات الفرعية المريبة من services.exe
2. التنبيه على إنشاء عملية مستوى SYSTEM غير المتوقع من جلسات المستخدم
3. مراقبة تعديلات السجل ضمن HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList
4. تتبع محاولات تصعيد الامتيازات الفاشلة والناجحة في سجل أحداث الأمان
📋 Regulatory Compliance Mapping
🟢 NCA ECC 2024
ECC 2024 A.5.1.1 - Access Control Policies ECC 2024 A.5.2.1 - User Registration and De-registration ECC 2024 A.5.3.1 - Access Rights Review ECC 2024 A.8.1.1 - Information Security Awareness ECC 2024 A.12.4.1 - Event Logging ECC 2024 A.12.4.3 - Administrator and Operator Logs
🔵 SAMA CSF
SAMA CSF ID.AM-2 - Software Inventory SAMA CSF PR.AC-1 - Access Control Policy SAMA CSF PR.AC-4 - Access Rights Management SAMA CSF DE.CM-1 - System Monitoring SAMA CSF DE.CM-3 - Activity Monitoring SAMA CSF RS.MI-2 - Incident Response Procedures
🟡 ISO 27001:2022
ISO 27001:2022 A.5.3 - Segregation of Duties ISO 27001:2022 A.8.1 - User Endpoint Devices ISO 27001:2022 A.8.2 - Privileged Access Rights ISO 27001:2022 A.8.3 - Information Access Restriction ISO 27001:2022 A.12.4 - Logging ISO 27001:2022 A.12.6 - Management of Technical Vulnerabilities
🟣 PCI DSS v4.0
PCI DSS 2.1 - Configuration Standards PCI DSS 6.2 - Security Patches PCI DSS 7.1 - Limit Access to System Components PCI DSS 10.2 - Implement Automated Audit Trails
🔗 References & Sources 0
No references.
📦 Affected Products / CPE 1 entries
Microsoft:Windows
📊 CVSS Score
9.0
/ 10.0 — Critical
📋 Quick Facts
Severity Critical
CVSS Score9.0
EPSS25.12%
Exploit ✓ Yes
Patch ✓ Yes
CISA KEV🇺🇸 Yes
KEV Due Date2022-05-16
Published 2022-04-25
Source Feed cisa_kev
Views 1
🇸🇦 Saudi Risk Score
9.2
/ 10.0 — Saudi Risk
Priority: CRITICAL
🏷️ Tags
kev actively-exploited
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