CVE-2021-42278
Active Directory Domain Services Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Active Directory Domain Services Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges needed
- Low
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
Active Directory Domain Services Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Active Directory Domain Services Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
- Record
CVE-2021-42278- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C - Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2021-29254
Active Directory Domain Services Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
- Record
EUVD-2021-29254- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C - Updated
- 2026-11-02
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-chp6-c7f5-h9w9
Active Directory Domain Services Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability This CVE ID is unique from...
Active Directory Domain Services Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability This CVE ID is unique from CVE-2021-42282, CVE-2021-42287, CVE-2021-42291.
- Record
GHSA-chp6-c7f5-h9w9- CVSS 3.1
- 8.8 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-20, CWE-269
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
CISA KEV No score
Microsoft Active Directory Domain Services Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
Microsoft Active Directory Domain Services contains an unspecified vulnerability that allows for privilege escalation.
- Record
CVE-2021-42278- Weakness
- CWE-20
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
Active Directory Domain Services Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
- Record
CVE-2021-42278- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 6.5 Medium
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:P - Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
- microsoft active directory
- microsoft windows server 2008 r2 service pack 1
- microsoft windows server 2008 r2 service pack 1 (server core installation)
- microsoft windows server 2008 service pack 2
- microsoft windows server 2008 service pack 2 (server core installation)
- microsoft windows server 2012
- microsoft windows server 2012 (server core installation)
- microsoft windows server 2012 r2
- microsoft windows server 2012 r2 (server core installation)
- microsoft windows server 2016
- microsoft windows server 2016 (server core installation)
- microsoft windows server 2019
Public exploits
Links only. Every CVE stores no exploit code.
| Source | Link | Date |
|---|---|---|
| PoC in GitHub | safebuffer/sam-the-admin | 2021-12-11 |
| PoC in GitHub | Ridter/noPac | 2021-12-13 |
| PoC in GitHub | ly4k/Pachine | 2021-12-13 |
| PoC in GitHub | waterrr/noPac | 2021-12-13 |
| PoC in GitHub | cybersecurityworks553/noPac-detection | 2021-12-27 |
| PoC in GitHub | xLTJ/noPac | 2026-07-07 |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| exploitation, exploits | ||
| first indexed | CVE List, EUVD, GitHub Advisories, CISA KEV, NVD, PoC in GitHub |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2021-42278 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.5) in Microsoft Active Directory, published November 10, 2021. CISA lists it as known to be exploited, since April 11, 2022. EUVD reports exploitation since April 11, 2022. Public exploit code exists. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 73.3%, the 99th percentile. No source names a fixed version.