CVE-2024-38107: Windows 10 Privilege Escalation Flaw

CVE-2024-38107 Overview

CVE-2024-38107 is an elevation of privilege vulnerability in the Windows Power Dependency Coordinator (PDC) component. This vulnerability allows a local attacker with low privileges to elevate their access to SYSTEM-level permissions on affected Windows systems. The flaw is classified as a Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability, where memory is accessed after it has been freed, leading to potentially exploitable conditions.

Critical Impact

This vulnerability is actively exploited in the wild and has been added to the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) Catalog, requiring immediate remediation attention for all affected Windows systems.

Affected Products

• Microsoft Windows 10 (versions 1507, 1607, 1809, 21H2, 22H2)
• Microsoft Windows 11 (versions 21H2, 22H2, 23H2, 24H2)
• Microsoft Windows Server 2012, 2012 R2, 2016, 2019, 2022, and 2022 23H2

Discovery Timeline

• August 13, 2024 - CVE-2024-38107 published to NVD
• October 28, 2025 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-38107

Vulnerability Analysis

CVE-2024-38107 affects the Windows Power Dependency Coordinator, a system component responsible for managing power state dependencies between system components. The vulnerability is a Use After Free (UAF) condition where a memory object is referenced after it has been deallocated. When successfully exploited, this allows an attacker to manipulate memory in a way that enables arbitrary code execution with elevated privileges.

The attack requires local access to the target system and low-level privileges to initiate. Once exploited, the attacker can achieve full SYSTEM-level access, providing complete control over the affected machine. This makes it particularly dangerous in scenarios where an attacker has already gained initial access through other means, such as phishing or exploitation of other vulnerabilities.

Root Cause

The vulnerability stems from improper memory management within the Windows Power Dependency Coordinator component. Specifically, the flaw occurs when a memory object is freed but pointers to that memory are not properly invalidated. Subsequent operations that reference this freed memory can lead to use of stale data or controlled memory corruption. The CWE-416 (Use After Free) classification indicates that the freed memory can be reallocated and its contents manipulated by an attacker before the dangling pointer is dereferenced.

Attack Vector

The attack is conducted locally on the affected system. An attacker with low-privilege user access must execute a specially crafted application or trigger specific conditions in the Power Dependency Coordinator to exploit the UAF condition. The attack does not require user interaction beyond the attacker's own actions. If successful, the attacker gains SYSTEM privileges, enabling them to install programs, view or modify data, create new accounts, or take complete control of the affected system.

Due to the sensitive nature of this actively exploited vulnerability, specific exploitation details are not provided. For technical details, refer to the Microsoft Security Update Guide.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-38107

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual process activity involving pdc.sys or related Power Dependency Coordinator components
• Unexpected privilege escalation events from low-privilege user accounts to SYSTEM
• Anomalous memory allocation patterns in kernel-mode components related to power management
• Suspicious processes spawning with SYSTEM privileges from user-space applications

Detection Strategies

• Monitor for processes attempting to interact with Power Dependency Coordinator interfaces in abnormal ways
• Implement behavioral detection rules for privilege escalation patterns, particularly those targeting kernel components
• Deploy SentinelOne's Behavioral AI engine to detect UAF exploitation attempts in real-time
• Enable Windows Security Event logging for privilege escalation events (Event IDs 4624, 4672)

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable detailed audit logging for security events related to privilege changes on all Windows endpoints
• Implement endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions with memory protection capabilities
• Monitor for abnormal kernel-mode activity using Windows ETW (Event Tracing for Windows) providers
• Deploy SentinelOne agents with Storyline technology enabled for correlation of attack chains

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-38107

Immediate Actions Required

• Apply Microsoft's August 2024 security updates immediately to all affected Windows systems
• Prioritize patching for systems that are internet-facing or handle sensitive data
• Implement network segmentation to limit lateral movement if a system is compromised
• Review and restrict local user privileges to reduce the attack surface

Patch Information

Microsoft released security patches for CVE-2024-38107 as part of the August 2024 Patch Tuesday update cycle. Organizations should apply the cumulative updates for their respective Windows versions. Detailed patch information and download links are available in the Microsoft Security Update Guide for CVE-2024-38107. Given that this vulnerability is listed in the CISA KEV Catalog, federal agencies and critical infrastructure operators have mandated remediation deadlines.

Workarounds

• Restrict local access to systems where patching cannot be immediately performed
• Implement application allowlisting to prevent unauthorized executables from running
• Enable Windows Defender Credential Guard and other virtualization-based security features where supported
• Monitor systems for exploitation attempts using EDR solutions while patches are being deployed

# Verify Windows Update status and check for missing patches
# Run in elevated PowerShell
Get-HotFix | Sort-Object -Property InstalledOn -Descending | Select-Object -First 10

# Check Windows Update service status
Get-Service wuauserv | Select-Object Status, StartType

# Force Windows Update scan
Start-Process "usoclient" -ArgumentList "StartScan" -Verb RunAs