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Global vulnerability Multiple sectors CRITICAL 29m Global vulnerability Information Technology / Software Infrastructure CRITICAL 31m Global data_breach Healthcare CRITICAL 46m Global data_breach Mobile Technology / Consumer Electronics HIGH 1h Global ransomware Cybersecurity Services / Multiple Sectors CRITICAL 1h Global apt Cryptocurrency and Blockchain CRITICAL 1h Global malware Financial Services, Mobile Payments HIGH 2h Global vulnerability Government and Critical Infrastructure CRITICAL 5h Global apt Cryptocurrency and Blockchain CRITICAL 13h Global malware Financial Services / Cryptocurrency CRITICAL 13h Global vulnerability Multiple sectors CRITICAL 29m Global vulnerability Information Technology / Software Infrastructure CRITICAL 31m Global data_breach Healthcare CRITICAL 46m Global data_breach Mobile Technology / Consumer Electronics HIGH 1h Global ransomware Cybersecurity Services / Multiple Sectors CRITICAL 1h Global apt Cryptocurrency and Blockchain CRITICAL 1h Global malware Financial Services, Mobile Payments HIGH 2h Global vulnerability Government and Critical Infrastructure CRITICAL 5h Global apt Cryptocurrency and Blockchain CRITICAL 13h Global malware Financial Services / Cryptocurrency CRITICAL 13h Global vulnerability Multiple sectors CRITICAL 29m Global vulnerability Information Technology / Software Infrastructure CRITICAL 31m Global data_breach Healthcare CRITICAL 46m Global data_breach Mobile Technology / Consumer Electronics HIGH 1h Global ransomware Cybersecurity Services / Multiple Sectors CRITICAL 1h Global apt Cryptocurrency and Blockchain CRITICAL 1h Global malware Financial Services, Mobile Payments HIGH 2h Global vulnerability Government and Critical Infrastructure CRITICAL 5h Global apt Cryptocurrency and Blockchain CRITICAL 13h Global malware Financial Services / Cryptocurrency CRITICAL 13h
Vulnerabilities

CVE-2021-43226

Critical 🇺🇸 CISA KEV ⚡ Exploit Available
Microsoft Windows Privilege Escalation Vulnerability — Microsoft Windows Common Log File System Driver contains a privilege escalation vulnerability that could allow a local, privileged attacker to by
Published: Oct 6, 2025  ·  Source: CISA_KEV
CVSS v3
9.0
🔗 NVD Official
📄 Description (English)

Microsoft Windows Privilege Escalation Vulnerability — Microsoft Windows Common Log File System Driver contains a privilege escalation vulnerability that could allow a local, privileged attacker to bypass certain security mechanisms.

🤖 AI Executive Summary

CVE-2021-43226 is a critical privilege escalation vulnerability in Microsoft Windows Common Log File System Driver (CLFS) with a CVSS score of 9.0. An authenticated local attacker with initial system access can exploit this flaw to bypass security mechanisms and escalate privileges to SYSTEM level. This vulnerability poses significant risk to Saudi organizations as it enables lateral movement and persistence within compromised systems, particularly in government and banking sectors relying on Windows infrastructure.

📄 Description (Arabic)

🤖 AI Intelligence Analysis Analyzed: Apr 21, 2026 11:16
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia Impact Assessment
This vulnerability directly impacts Saudi critical infrastructure sectors: (1) Banking & Financial Services (SAMA-regulated institutions, ARAMCO Finance) — enables insider threats and lateral movement to sensitive financial systems; (2) Government & Public Administration (NCA, Ministry of Interior, CITC) — compromises administrative workstations and domain controllers; (3) Energy Sector (Saudi Aramco, SEC) — affects operational technology networks running Windows; (4) Telecommunications (STC, Mobily, Zain) — impacts network management systems; (5) Healthcare (MOH facilities) — threatens patient data systems. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous as it requires only local access, making it effective post-breach for privilege escalation.
🏢 Affected Saudi Sectors
Banking & Financial Services Government & Public Administration Energy & Utilities Telecommunications Healthcare Defense & Security Critical Infrastructure
⚖️ Saudi Risk Score (AI)
9.2
/ 10.0
🔧 Remediation Steps (English)
IMMEDIATE ACTIONS:
1. Identify all Windows systems in your environment using Windows Update or WSUS inventory tools
2. Prioritize patching for domain controllers, administrative workstations, and servers in critical infrastructure
3. Implement application whitelisting to restrict execution of suspicious processes attempting privilege escalation
4. Enable Windows Defender Exploit Guard and Attack Surface Reduction rules

PATCHING GUIDANCE:
1. Apply Microsoft Security Update KB5007651 (November 2021) or later immediately
2. For Windows 10: Install cumulative update KB5007651 or newer
3. For Windows Server 2016/2019/2022: Apply corresponding security updates
4. Verify patch installation using: Get-HotFix | Where-Object {$_.HotFixID -eq 'KB5007651'}

COMPENSATING CONTROLS (if immediate patching delayed):
1. Restrict local administrative access using Group Policy (Deny Log On Locally for non-essential accounts)
2. Monitor CLFS driver activity using Windows Event Viewer (System logs for driver errors)
3. Implement privileged access management (PAM) solutions to monitor and control privilege escalation attempts
4. Disable CLFS if not required: sc config clfs start= disabled

DETECTION RULES:
1. Monitor Event ID 4688 (Process Creation) for suspicious CLFS-related processes
2. Alert on processes spawning with SYSTEM privileges from user-initiated actions
3. Monitor registry modifications to HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\clfs
4. Use Sysmon Event ID 1 to detect privilege escalation patterns
5. Deploy YARA rule: search for CLFS driver exploitation signatures in memory dumps
🔧 خطوات المعالجة (العربية)
الإجراءات الفورية:
1. تحديد جميع أنظمة Windows في بيئتك باستخدام أدوات Windows Update أو WSUS
2. إعطاء الأولوية لتصحيح أجهزة التحكم بالمجال ومحطات العمل الإدارية والخوادم في البنية التحتية الحرجة
3. تطبيق قائمة بيضاء للتطبيقات لتقييد تنفيذ العمليات المريبة التي تحاول تصعيد الامتيازات
4. تفعيل Windows Defender Exploit Guard وقواعد تقليل سطح الهجوم

إرشادات التصحيح:
1. تطبيق تحديث أمان Microsoft KB5007651 (نوفمبر 2021) أو أحدث فوراً
2. لـ Windows 10: تثبيت التحديث التراكمي KB5007651 أو أحدث
3. لـ Windows Server 2016/2019/2022: تطبيق التحديثات الأمنية المقابلة
4. التحقق من تثبيت التصحيح باستخدام: Get-HotFix | Where-Object {$_.HotFixID -eq 'KB5007651'}

الضوابط البديلة (إذا تأخر التصحيح الفوري):
1. تقييد الوصول الإداري المحلي باستخدام Group Policy
2. مراقبة نشاط برنامج تشغيل CLFS باستخدام Windows Event Viewer
3. تطبيق حلول إدارة الوصول المميز (PAM)
4. تعطيل CLFS إذا لم يكن مطلوباً: sc config clfs start= disabled

قواعد الكشف:
1. مراقبة Event ID 4688 للعمليات المريبة المتعلقة بـ CLFS
2. التنبيه على العمليات التي تعمل بامتيازات SYSTEM من إجراءات المستخدم
3. مراقبة تعديلات السجل على HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\clfs
4. استخدام Sysmon Event ID 1 للكشف عن أنماط تصعيد الامتيازات
5. نشر قاعدة YARA للكشف عن توقيعات استغلال برنامج تشغيل CLFS
📋 Regulatory Compliance Mapping
🟢 NCA ECC 2024
ECC 2024 A.5.1.1 - Access Control Policies (privilege escalation prevention) ECC 2024 A.5.2.1 - User Registration and De-registration (privileged account management) ECC 2024 A.5.3.1 - Access Rights Review (monitoring privilege escalation attempts) ECC 2024 A.12.4.1 - Event Logging (detection of exploitation attempts) ECC 2024 A.12.6.1 - Management of Technical Vulnerabilities (patch management)
🔵 SAMA CSF
SAMA CSF ID.GV-1 - Organizational context and governance (vulnerability management program) SAMA CSF PR.IP-12 - System and information integrity (patch management) SAMA CSF DE.CM-1 - Detection processes and tools (monitoring for exploitation) SAMA CSF RS.MI-2 - Incident response and recovery (privilege escalation containment)
🟡 ISO 27001:2022
ISO 27001:2022 A.5.15 - Access Control (privilege management) ISO 27001:2022 A.8.1 - User endpoint devices (system hardening) ISO 27001:2022 A.12.6.1 - Management of technical vulnerabilities and exposures ISO 27001:2022 A.12.6.2 - Restrictions on software installation ISO 27001:2022 A.14.2.1 - Secure development policy
🟣 PCI DSS v4.0
PCI DSS 6.2 - Security patches and updates (timely patching requirement) PCI DSS 7.1 - Limit access to system components (privilege escalation prevention) PCI DSS 10.2 - Implement automated audit trails (detection of privilege escalation)
🔗 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
EPSS7.55%
Exploit ✓ Yes
Patch ✓ Yes
CISA KEV🇺🇸 Yes
KEV Due Date2025-10-27
Published 2025-10-06
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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