WinVerifyTrust Signature Validation Vulnerability
- Published
- Last modified
- Where the record stands: published, rejected by its publisher, or superseded by another id.What do these mean? →
- published
- Whether CISA lists it in its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog: proof that attackers are using it.What do these mean? →
- Listed in CISA KEV
- Whether working attack code is public (Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei or GitHub). Public code makes attacks easier.What do these mean? →
- None on Exploit-DB, Metasploit or GitHub
- Exploitation: active
- Automatable: no
- Technical impact: partial
Summary
The WinVerifyTrust signature validation component in supported versions of Windows 10 and Windows 11 is affected, and the vulnerability could allow an attacker to modify a signed executable so that malicious code is added without invalidating the signature, potentially giving them full control of the system. Microsoft notes that the stricter verification behavior is available only as an opt-in setting that must be enabled manually via the EnableCertPaddingCheck registry value.
Summarized by anthropic/claude-haiku-5.5. Verify details against the original sources.
Read the original description
Why is Microsoft republishing a CVE from 2013? We are republishing CVE-2013-3900 in the Security Update Guide to update the Security Updates table and to inform customers that the EnableCertPaddingCheck is available in all currently supported versions of Windows 10 and Windows 11. While the format is different from the original CVE published in 2013, except for clarifications about how to configure the EnableCertPaddingCheck registry value, the information herein remains unchanged from the original text published on December 10, 2013, Microsoft does not plan to enforce the stricter verification behavior as a default functionality on supported releases of Microsoft Windows. This behavior remains available as an opt-in feature via reg key setting, and is available on supported editions of Windows released since December 10, 2013. This includes all currently supported versions of Windows 10 and Windows 11. The supporting code for this reg key was incorporated at the time of release for Windows 10 and Windows 11, so no security update is required; however, the reg key must be set. See the Security Updates table for the list of affected software. Vulnerability Description A remote code execution vulnerability exists in the way that the WinVerifyTrust function handles Windows Authenticode signature verification for portable executable (PE) files. An anonymous attacker could exploit the vulnerability by modifying an existing signed executable file to leverage unverified portions of the file in such a way as to add malicious code to the file without invalidating the signature. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. If a user is logged on with administrative user rights, an attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights. Exploitation of this vulnerability requires that a user or application run or install a specially crafted, signed PE file. An attacker could modify an... See more at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2013-3900
Timeline
- CVE published
- Added to CISA KEV
CISA has evidence of exploitation in the wild
- CISA remediation deadline
Due date for US federal agencies to patch
- CISA SSVC assessment
Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Technical impact: partial
- Record last updated
- EPSS reached 10%
FIRST estimates at least a 10% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days
Affected versions
- Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1809
Version range not reported
- Microsoft Windows Server 2019
Version range not reported
- Microsoft Windows Server 2019 (Server Core installation)
Version range not reported
- Microsoft Windows Server 2022
Version range not reported
- Microsoft Windows 11 version 21H2
Version range not reported
- Microsoft Windows 10 Version 21H2
Version range not reported
- Microsoft Windows 11 version 22H2
Version range not reported
- Microsoft Windows 10 Version 22H2
Version range not reported
- Microsoft Windows Server 2025 (Server Core installation)
Version range not reported
- Microsoft Windows 11 version 22H3
Version range not reported
- Microsoft Windows 11 Version 23H2
Version range not reported
- Microsoft Windows Server 2022, 23H2 Edition (Server Core installation)
Version range not reported
- Microsoft Windows 11 Version 24H2
Version range not reported
- Microsoft Windows Server 2025
Version range not reported
- Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1507
Version range not reported
- Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1607
Version range not reported
- Microsoft Windows Server 2016
Version range not reported
- Microsoft Windows Server 2016 (Server Core installation)
Version range not reported
- Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2
Version range not reported
- Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 (Server Core installation)
Version range not reported
- Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2
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- Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1
Version range not reported
- Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (Server Core installation)
Version range not reported
- Microsoft Windows Server 2012
Version range not reported
- Microsoft Windows Server 2012 (Server Core installation)
Version range not reported
- Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2
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- Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2 (Server Core installation)
Version range not reported