● High · CVSS 7.8 ⚠ ACTIVELY EXPLOITED — CISA KEV

How to Fix CVE-2015-1701: Security vulnerability in Microsoft Windows

⚡ At a glance


Severity	7.8 (High)
Actively exploited?	Yes, listed in CISA KEV (added 2022-03-03)
Affected	See the vendor advisory linked below
Fixed in	See vendor advisory
Type (CWE)	Not verified — see official advisory

WARNING: This vulnerability is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-03-03). Federal civilian agencies must remediate by 2022-03-24. Treat it as active exploitation, not theoretical.

What is CVE-2015-1701?

Win32k.sys in the kernel-mode drivers in Microsoft Windows Server 2003 SP2, Vista SP2, and Server 2008 SP2 allows local users to gain privileges via a crafted application, as exploited in the wild in April 2015, aka "Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability."

Am I affected?

Run the version check that matches your platform:


# Linux
dpkg -s linux-image-generic 2>/dev/null | grep -i version
rpm -q linux-image-generic 2>/dev/null
linux-image-generic --version 2>/dev/null


# Windows
winget list | findstr /I "linux-image-generic"
Get-WmiObject Win32_Product | Where-Object { $_.Name -like "*Microsoft Windows*" } | Select-Object Name, Version

Compare what you see against the Affected row above (See the vendor advisory linked below). If your build sits inside that range, you are exposed and should patch.

How to fix CVE-2015-1701

The primary fix is to upgrade Microsoft Windows to the patched build. Use the commands for your platform below; the patched version listed in the vendor advisory is: See vendor advisory.

Ubuntu / Debian


sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install --only-upgrade linux-image-generic
linux-image-generic --version 2>/dev/null || dpkg -s linux-image-generic | grep -i version

RHEL / CentOS / Rocky / AlmaLinux


sudo dnf upgrade --security linux-image-generic -y
rpm -q linux-image-generic

SUSE / openSUSE


sudo zypper patch --category security
rpm -q linux-image-generic

Windows (PowerShell, run as administrator)


# Check installed version
Get-HotFix | Sort-Object InstalledOn -Descending | Select-Object -First 5

# Apply latest Microsoft security updates (Windows Update)
Install-Module -Name PSWindowsUpdate -Force -SkipPublisherCheck
Import-Module PSWindowsUpdate
Get-WindowsUpdate -MicrosoftUpdate
Install-WindowsUpdate -MicrosoftUpdate -AcceptAll -AutoReboot

# Or via winget for application-level patches
winget upgrade --all --accept-source-agreements --accept-package-agreements

If the affected component is a third-party application, identify the package and run:


winget upgrade --id <vendor.product>

Replace <vendor.product> with the actual winget identifier (run winget search Linux kernel to find it).

Complete PowerShell remediation script (Windows)


# Fix script for CVE-2015-1701 affecting Linux kernel
# Run as administrator. Detect -> backup -> upgrade -> verify -> log.

$ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"
$LogPath  = "C:\Logs\CVE-2015-1701-fix-$(Get-Date -Format yyyyMMdd-HHmmss).log"
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force (Split-Path $LogPath) | Out-Null
Start-Transcript -Path $LogPath -Append

try {
    Write-Host "[1/4] Detecting installed version of Linux kernel"
    $pkg = winget list --id "Linux_kernel" 2>$null
    Write-Host $pkg

    Write-Host "[2/4] Backing up configuration"
    $backup = "C:\Backup\Linux_kernel-$(Get-Date -Format yyyyMMdd)"
    New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force $backup | Out-Null
    Get-ChildItem "C:\ProgramData\Linux_kernel" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |
        Copy-Item -Destination $backup -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

    Write-Host "[3/4] Applying upgrade to latest"
    winget upgrade --id "Linux_kernel" --silent --accept-source-agreements --accept-package-agreements
    # Fallback: Windows Update for OS-level fixes
    if ($LASTEXITCODE -ne 0) {
        Install-Module -Name PSWindowsUpdate -Force -SkipPublisherCheck -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
        Import-Module PSWindowsUpdate
        Install-WindowsUpdate -MicrosoftUpdate -AcceptAll -IgnoreReboot
    }

    Write-Host "[4/4] Verifying patched build"
    winget list --id "Linux_kernel"
    Write-Host "Fix applied. Reboot if prompted."
    exit 0
} catch {
    Write-Error "Patch failed: $_"
    exit 1
} finally {
    Stop-Transcript
}

Complete Bash remediation script (Linux)


#!/usr/bin/env bash
# Fix script for CVE-2015-1701 affecting Linux kernel
# Detect -> backup -> upgrade -> verify -> log.

set -euo pipefail
LOG="/var/log/cve-2015-1701-fix-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S).log"
exec > >(tee -a "$LOG") 2>&1

echo "[1/4] Detecting installed version"
if command -v dpkg >/dev/null; then
    dpkg -s linux-image-generic 2>/dev/null | grep -i version || echo "linux-image-generic not installed via dpkg"
elif command -v rpm >/dev/null; then
    rpm -q linux-image-generic || echo "linux-image-generic not installed via rpm"
fi

echo "[2/4] Backing up configuration"
BACKUP="/root/backup-cve-2015-1701-$(date +%Y%m%d)"
mkdir -p "$BACKUP"
for d in /etc/linux-image-generic /etc/linux-image-generic.d /etc/linux-image-generic.conf; do
    [ -e "$d" ] && cp -a "$d" "$BACKUP/" || true
done

echo "[3/4] Applying upgrade (target: latest)"
if command -v apt-get >/dev/null; then
    apt-get update
    apt-get install --only-upgrade -y linux-image-generic
elif command -v dnf >/dev/null; then
    dnf upgrade --security -y linux-image-generic
elif command -v yum >/dev/null; then
    yum update -y linux-image-generic
elif command -v zypper >/dev/null; then
    zypper --non-interactive patch --category security
fi

echo "[4/4] Verifying patched build"
if command -v dpkg >/dev/null; then
    dpkg -s linux-image-generic 2>/dev/null | grep -i version
elif command -v rpm >/dev/null; then
    rpm -q linux-image-generic
fi
echo "Done. Restart any running daemons that loaded the old library."

If you can't patch immediately

If you cannot apply the patched version today, restrict exposure with one of the following runnable controls. None replace the patch.

Network restriction (Linux, nftables)


# Block inbound traffic to the affected service from untrusted networks
sudo nft add table inet filter
sudo nft 'add chain inet filter input { type filter hook input priority 0 ; }'
sudo nft 'add rule inet filter input tcp dport {443, 80} ip saddr != 10.0.0.0/8 drop'
sudo nft list ruleset

Windows firewall isolation


# Allow only management subnet to reach the vulnerable service
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Restrict Microsoft Windows" `
    -Direction Inbound -Action Block -RemoteAddress Any `
    -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 443
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Allow Mgmt Microsoft Windows" `
    -Direction Inbound -Action Allow -RemoteAddress 10.0.0.0/8 `
    -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 443

Service-level fallback


# If the affected feature is optional, stop the service until the patch is applied
sudo systemctl stop linux-image-generic
sudo systemctl disable linux-image-generic

How to verify the fix worked


# Linux
linux-image-generic --version 2>/dev/null || dpkg -s linux-image-generic | grep -i version
rpm -q linux-image-generic 2>/dev/null || true


# Windows
winget list | findstr /I "linux-image-generic"
Get-HotFix | Sort-Object InstalledOn -Descending | Select-Object -First 5

Expected: the reported version is at or above the patched build documented in the advisory. Restart any services that loaded the old library (systemctl restart <service> on Linux, restart the Windows service or reboot when prompted). For network appliances, run show version on the device and confirm the build matches the patched release.

Frequently asked questions

Other vulnerabilities in the same area that are worth patching alongside this one:

How to Fix CVE-2015-1769: Security Vulnerability in Windows — Security Vulnerability in Windows
How to Fix CVE-2015-2424: Out-of-bounds write in Microsoft Office , Out-of-bounds write in Microsoft Office
How to Fix CVE-2015-0016: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') , Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
How to Fix CVE-2015-2426: Buffer Underwrite in Microsoft Windows , Buffer Underwrite in Microsoft Windows
How to Fix CVE-2015-1671: Security Vulnerability in Windows , Security Vulnerability in Windows

Is CVE-2015-1701 actually being exploited?

According to the data sources above, yes, CISA has it listed as actively exploited. Either way, the fix is the same: apply the vendor patch.

Do I need to reboot after patching?

For OS or kernel updates, yes. For most userland packages a systemctl restart <service> is enough. Any process that loaded the old shared library keeps using it until restarted, so when in doubt, reboot.

What is the CVSS score?

7.8 (high). Refer to the vendor advisory for the exact vector string.

Where is the official advisory?

See the References section at the bottom of this page; the vendor's URL is the authoritative source for affected builds and patched versions.

References

Official vendor advisory: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2015/ms15-051
NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-1701
CISA KEV catalog entry: https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog
http://twitter.com/symantec/statuses/590208710527549440
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/37049/
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/74245
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/37367/

*Written by Sai Kiran Pandrala. Assembled from the official vendor advisory, NVD record, and CISA KEV listing on 2026-05-25. Always confirm against the vendor's advisory before applying changes in production.*

How to Fix CVE-2015-1701: Security vulnerability in Microsoft Windows

What is CVE-2015-1701?

Am I affected?

How to fix CVE-2015-1701

Ubuntu / Debian

RHEL / CentOS / Rocky / AlmaLinux

SUSE / openSUSE

Windows (PowerShell, run as administrator)

Complete PowerShell remediation script (Windows)

Complete Bash remediation script (Linux)

If you can't patch immediately

Network restriction (Linux, nftables)

Windows firewall isolation

Service-level fallback

How to verify the fix worked

Frequently asked questions

Related fixes

References