CriticalCVE-2022-44698

Windows SmartScreen Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability (CVE-2022-44698)

Published 13.12.2022In CISA KEV since 13.12.2022Sources: CVE.org

What is affected, what to do

Windows SmartScreen Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability

The vulnerability is being actively exploited; treat it as a priority. CISA lists it as used in ransomware campaigns. Update Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1809 to version 10.0.17763.3770, Microsoft Windows Server 2019 to version 10.0.17763.3770, Microsoft Windows 10 Version 21H1 to version 10.0.19043.2364. Immediate actions, mitigation and detection rules are in the runbook below.

Affected: Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1809 lt 10.0.17763.0..10.0.17763.3770
Microsoft Windows Server 2019 lt 10.0.17763.0..10.0.17763.3770
Microsoft Windows 10 Version 21H1 lt 10.0.0..10.0.19043.2364
Microsoft Windows Server 2022 lt 10.0.20348.0..10.0.20348.1366
Microsoft Windows 10 Version 20H2 lt 10.0.0..10.0.19042.2364
Microsoft Windows 11 version 21H2 lt 10.0.22000.0..10.0.22000.1335
Microsoft Windows 10 Version 21H2 lt 10.0.19044.0..10.0.19044.2364
Microsoft Windows 10 Version 22H2 lt 10.0.19045.0..10.0.19045.2364
Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1607 lt 10.0.14393.0..10.0.14393.5582
Microsoft Windows Server 2016 lt 10.0.14393.0..10.0.14393.5582
Fixed in: Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1809 10.0.17763.3770
Microsoft Windows Server 2019 10.0.17763.3770
Microsoft Windows 10 Version 21H1 10.0.19043.2364
Microsoft Windows Server 2022 10.0.20348.1366
Microsoft Windows 10 Version 20H2 10.0.19042.2364
Microsoft Windows 11 version 21H2 10.0.22000.1335
Microsoft Windows 10 Version 21H2 10.0.19044.2364
Microsoft Windows 10 Version 22H2 10.0.19045.2364
Microsoft Windows 10 Version 1607 10.0.14393.5582
Microsoft Windows Server 2016 10.0.14393.5582

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Metrics

5.4

Priority

XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.

Source: NVD, CVSS v3

5.4

CVSS v3

Severity Medium on the scale from 0 to 10.

Source: CVE.org

76.3 %

EPSS score

High — model estimates ≥ 50% chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days.

Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 99.54

Show all metrics

Severity: Critical
Priority (0–325) The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first? Read in glossary: 233.11 Methodology
Exploit maturity An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack. Read in glossary: actively exploited
XIEM Effective CVSS XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command. Read in glossary: 5.4 Methodology
CVSS v3 CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions. Read in glossary: 5.4
EPSS score The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“. Read in glossary: 76.3 %; High — model estimates ≥ 50% chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days.
EPSS percentile The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking. Read in glossary: 99.54; Critical — this CVE ranks in the top fifth of all CVEs scored today (rank ≥ 80%).
KEV status The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching. Read in glossary: Actively exploited
Published: 13.12.2022
In CISA KEV since The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching. Read in glossary: 13.12.2022
CISA assessment (SSVC): Exploitation: active · not automatable · Technical impact: partial; Source: CISA Vulnrichment, as of 24 July 2024

Response and mitigation

Why act now?

Prioritisation rationale

This flaw is network-reachable without authentication but requires user interaction, so its formal severity rating is only moderate. The real-world risk is considerably higher because it neutralises the MOTW/SmartScreen warning. That warning is the last user-facing barrier in phishing chains that deliver script files inside archives. CISA flags known use in ransomware campaigns, and the vulnerability sits among the CVEs most likely to be exploited. Typical targets are the broad population of Windows endpoints with email and web access. NIS2 and KRITIS organisations should therefore treat it as high priority regardless of the base score and fast-track it ahead of the regular patch cycle. This applies especially to office and IT clients that bridge into OT or sensitive business systems.

01
Runbook step 1
Immediate response (0-24 h)
- Deploy the December 2022 Windows cumulative security update, or any later cumulative update, to all clients and servers. The minimum fixed builds are: Windows 10 1607 / Server 2016 10.0.14393.5582, Windows 10 1809 10.0.17763.3770, Windows 10 20H2/21H1/21H2/22H2 10.0.19042/19043/19044/19045.2364, and Windows 11 21H2 10.0.22000.1335. Look up the KB number for each build in the Microsoft Security Update Guide.
- Run a compliance sweep in Intune, WSUS or SCCM. In MDE, use DeviceInfo | where OSBuild < <minimum build>. Prioritise unpatched endpoints that are used for email and web browsing.
- At the mail gateway, block or quarantine inbound .js, .jse, .vbs, .wsf and .hta attachments. Do the same for container formats (.zip, .iso, .img, .vhd) from external senders.
- Until patching is complete, use GPO to remap the .js, .jse, .vbs and .wsf file associations to notepad.exe. A double-click then opens the script in an editor instead of executing it.
- Hunt back 30 days for script execution from download or temp locations (see Detection rules). Isolate any host that hits and switch to the ransomware IR playbook.
02
Runbook step 2
Mitigation layers
- Endpoint hardening (ASR): Enable the following Defender ASR rules in block mode:
  
  "Block JavaScript or VBScript from launching downloaded executable content" (D3E037E1-3EB8-44C8-A917-57927947596D)
  
  "Block execution of potentially obfuscated scripts" (5BEB7EFE-FD9A-4556-801D-275E5FFC04CC)
  
  the prevalence/age/trusted-list rule (01443614-CD74-433A-B99E-2ECDC07BFC25)
- Application control: Deny wscript.exe and cscript.exe to standard users via WDAC or AppLocker. Alternatively, disable Windows Script Host entirely with HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Script Host\Settings\Enabled = 0.
- SmartScreen/MOTW configuration: Enforce SmartScreen via GPO ("Warn and prevent bypass"). Also set the Attachment Manager policy "Do not preserve zone information in file attachments" to Disabled so MOTW is always written.
- Container formats: Remove the double-click "Mount" shell verb for ISO, IMG and VHD files. Only allow archive tools that propagate MOTW to extracted files.
- Network/proxy: Block downloads of script and container files from uncategorised or newly registered domains at the web proxy. Deny outbound connections from wscript.exe and cscript.exe at the host firewall.
- IAM/least privilege: Remove local admin rights. Exploitation depends on the user running the file, so the victim account's privileges largely determine the blast radius.
03
Runbook step 3
Detection rules
- Script execution from user download/temp paths (Sysmon EID 1 / MDE DeviceProcessEvents): Alert on wscript.exe or cscript.exe executing .js/.jse files from \Downloads\, \AppData\Local\Temp\ or archive temp paths. KQL: DeviceProcessEvents | where FileName in~ ("wscript.exe","cscript.exe") and ProcessCommandLine matches regex @"(?i)(downloads|\\temp\\).*\.(js|jse|wsf)"
- EDR process ancestry: Watch for explorer.exe → wscript.exe → powershell.exe|cmd.exe|rundll32.exe|msiexec.exe|regsvr32.exe. Sigma shape: ParentImage|endswith: '\wscript.exe' with Image|endswith from that list. Given the ransomware link, also watch for vssadmin delete shadows and wmic shadowcopy delete.
- MOTW-tagged files running without a SmartScreen prompt (Sysmon EID 15, FileCreateStreamHash): Flag files carrying Zone.Identifier (ZoneId=3) that execute without a SmartScreen prompt. Correlate with Sysmon EID 1 within 60 s where no event appears in the Microsoft-Windows-SmartScreen/Debug channel.
- Static detection: Look for script files with an embedded Authenticode block (// SIG // Begin signature block) that is malformed or fails verification. Apply YARA or Defender custom indicators on mail gateways and file shares.
- Defender events: Monitor Event ID 1121/1122 (ASR block/audit) for the rule GUIDs above, and Event ID 1116/1117 for script-based malware families. Treat clusters across multiple hosts as a campaign indicator.

Detection rules

No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.

Classification under NIS2 and CRA

Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.

NIS2 NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management. Read in glossary: Actively exploited: treat the vulnerability as a priority in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2. If it is exploited in your environment, check the reporting obligation under Art. 23 (early warning within 24 hours).
CRA The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates. Read in glossary: Since 11.09.2026, manufacturers of affected products with digital elements must report actively exploited vulnerabilities under Art. 14 CRA, with an early warning within 24 hours via ENISA's single reporting platform.
ISO/IEC 27001 ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security. Read in glossary: Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.

Description

Windows SmartScreen Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability

Source: cvelistv5, NVD (NIST), CISA KEV Catalog, CVE.org (MITRE)

Affected products

The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.

Affected products
		Affected versions	Fixed in
Microsoft	Windows 10 Version 1607	`10.0.14393.0 – < 10.0.14393.5582`	`10.0.14393.5582`
Microsoft	Windows 10 Version 1809	`10.0.17763.0 – < 10.0.17763.3770`	`10.0.17763.3770`
Microsoft	Windows 10 Version 20H2	`10.0.0 – < 10.0.19042.2364`	`10.0.19042.2364`
Microsoft	Windows 10 Version 21H1	`10.0.0 – < 10.0.19043.2364`	`10.0.19043.2364`
Microsoft	Windows 10 Version 21H2	`10.0.19044.0 – < 10.0.19044.2364`	`10.0.19044.2364`
Microsoft	Windows 10 Version 22H2	`10.0.19045.0 – < 10.0.19045.2364`	`10.0.19045.2364`
Microsoft	Windows 11 version 21H2	`10.0.22000.0 – < 10.0.22000.1335`	`10.0.22000.1335`
Microsoft	Windows Server 2016	`10.0.14393.0 – < 10.0.14393.5582`	`10.0.14393.5582`
Microsoft	Windows Server 2019	`10.0.17763.0 – < 10.0.17763.3770`	`10.0.17763.3770`
Microsoft	Windows Server 2022	`10.0.20348.0 – < 10.0.20348.1366`	`10.0.20348.1366`

Vendors and products

Affected operating systems

Affected operating systems

Windows	microsoft	windows_10_1607	—
Windows	microsoft	windows_10_1809	—
Windows	microsoft	windows_10_20h2	—
Windows	microsoft	windows_10_21h1	—
Windows	microsoft	windows_10_21h2	—
Windows	microsoft	windows_10_22h2	—
Windows	microsoft	windows_11_21h2	—
Windows	microsoft	windows_server_2016	—
Windows	microsoft	windows_server_2019	—
Windows	microsoft	windows_server_2022	—

Public exploit references

Publicly reported proof-of-concepts, exploit modules and detection templates for this vulnerability. NEOSEC links to the original sources only and does not provide any exploit code.

Public exploit references

CISA KEV Catalog	CISA Known Exploited Vulnerability (opens in a new tab)cisa.gov	actively exploited	13.12.2022

References & sources

Microsoft Security Update GuideWindows SmartScreen Security Feature Bypass VulnerabilityVendor advisory, Patch, Vendor advisory
cisa.govknown-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2022-44698government-resource, US government resource

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<a href="https://intel.neosec.eu/en/cve/CVE-2022-44698"><img src="https://intel.neosec.eu/badge/cve/CVE-2022-44698.svg?lang=en" alt="CVE-2022-44698 – NEOSEC Intel" height="20"></a>

What is affected, what to do

Metrics

Response and mitigation

Prioritisation rationale

Immediate response (0-24 h)

Mitigation layers

Detection rules

Detection rules

Classification under NIS2 and CRA

Description

Affected products

Vendors and products

Affected operating systems

Public exploit references

References & sources