Windows Win32K ICOMP Type Confusion Elevation of Privilege
CVE-2025-50168 is an elevation of privilege vulnerability in the Windows Win32K component, specifically identified as affecting ICOMP. The issue is described as an access of resource using incompatible type (type confusion). Successful exploitation allows a locally authorized attacker to trigger the type confusion condition in Win32K/ICOMP and elevate privileges on the affected Windows system.
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Impact, mitigation & remediation
What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.
Impact
What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.
Mitigation
If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.
Remediation
Patch, then assume compromise.
Exploits
1 valid exploit after Mallory filtered fakes, detection scripts, and README-only repos.
This repository contains a local privilege escalation (LPE) exploit targeting CVE-2025-50168, a vulnerability in the Win32kbase!DirectComposition component of Microsoft Windows. The exploit was submitted to Pwn2Own Berlin 2025 in the LPE category. The main exploit logic resides in 'P2O/main.cpp', which orchestrates the attack by leaking the Windows kernel base address (bypassing kASLR) using a side-channel technique (prefetch-based, with assembly in 'prefetch_asm.asm' and logic in 'prefetch_leak.h'), and then exploiting the DirectComposition vulnerability to escalate privileges. The exploit manipulates kernel memory structures to obtain SYSTEM privileges and spawns a SYSTEM shell. The codebase is written in C++ with some inline assembly and is structured as a Visual Studio project. No network endpoints are used; the attack vector is purely local. The exploit uses named pipes (\\.\pipe\inputPipe and \\.\pipe\outputPipe) for internal communication. The repository is mature and operational, providing a working LPE exploit for research and educational purposes.
Affected products & vendors
Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.
Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.
Recent activity
9 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.
A Windows elevation-of-privilege (EoP) vulnerability demonstrated at Pwn2Own Berlin, with a public write-up by Out of Bounds.
An elevation of privilege vulnerability in Win32k that Microsoft assessed as more likely to be exploited.
The version that knows your environment.
Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.
Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.
Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.
YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.
Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.
Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.