#windows

**In what scenarios is my computer vulnerable?** For Windows 11 and Windows 10 the FAX service is not installed by default. For the vulnerability to be exploitable, the Windows Fax and Scan feature needs to be enabled, and the Fax service needs to be running. Systems that do not have the Fax service running are not vulnerable. **How can I verify whether the Fax service is running?** 1. Hold the **Windows key** and press **R** on your keyboard. This will open the Run dialog. 2. Type _services.msc_ and press **Enter** to open the Services window. 3. Scroll through the list and locate the **Fax** service. * If the Fax service is not listed, Windows Fax and Scan is not enabled and the system is not vulnerable. * If the Fax service is listed but the status is not _Running_, then the system is not vulnerable at the time, but could be targeted if the service was started. The update should be installed as soon as possible or the Fax service should be removed if not needed.

**According to the CVSS metric, the attack complexity is high (AC:H). What does that mean for this vulnerability?** Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires an attacker to win a race condition.

**What type of information could be disclosed by this vulnerability?** Exploiting this vulnerability could allow the disclosure of initialized or uninitialized memory in the process heap.

**What privileges could an attacker gain?** An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain specific limited SYSTEM privileges.

**What privileges could an attacker gain?** An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could gain SYSTEM privileges.

**According to the CVSS metric, the attack vector is local (AV:L). Why does the CVE title indicate that this is a remote code execution?** The word **Remote** in the title refers to the location of the attacker. This type of exploit is sometimes referred to as Arbitrary Code Execution (ACE). The attack itself is carried out locally. For example, when the score indicates that the **Attack Vector** is **Local** and **User Interaction** is **Required**, this could describe an exploit in which an attacker, through social engineering, convinces a victim to download and open a specially crafted file from a website which leads to a local attack on their computer.

**What is the relationship between Mark of the Web and Windows SmartScreen?** When you download a file from the internet, Windows adds the zone identifier or Mark of the Web as an NTFS stream to the file. So, when you run the file, Windows SmartScreen checks if there is a zone identifier Alternate Data Stream (ADS) attached to the file. If the ADS indicates ZoneId=3 which means that the file was downloaded from the internet, the SmartScreen does a reputation check. For more information on SmartScreen, please visit Microsoft Defender SmartScreen overview | Microsoft Learn.

**Why are there two different impacts in the Security Updates table?** An attacker could potentially exploit this vulnerability to elevate privileges from a client-side application sandbox in earlier Microsoft operating systems. However, mitigation technologies in later Microsoft operating systems make this more difficult. For this reason, this vulnerability has two different impact ratings.

**How could an attacker exploit this vulnerability?** A locally authenticated attacker could manipulate information on the Sysinternals services to achieve elevation from local user to SYSTEM admin.

**According to the CVSS metric, privileges required is low (PR:L). What does that mean for this vulnerability?** Any authenticated user could trigger this vulnerability. It does not require admin or other elevated privileges.