Reference page — cumulative record through Sunday, October 4, 2026 UTC. Reference pages update as the archive grows; only dated daily editions are immutable pages of record.

CVE-2021-42297

CVE-2021-42297MEDIUM

Microsoft Windows Update Assistant — Windows 10 Update Assistant Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

  AV  AC  PR  UI  S  C  I  A   CVSS    EPSS   %ile   KEV
   L   L   L   R  U  N  N  H    5.0   .0143   72.1     —

AFFECTED
  Product                   Versions  Fixed
  Windows Update Assistant  10.0.0 –  —

TIMELINE
  Oct 12  Reserved by microsoft
  Nov 24  Published (CNA: microsoft)
  Aug 19  EXPLOIT PUBLISHED — CVE-2021-42297 (Microsoft Windows Update Assistant). Public exploit reference added.

CWE-59 · CNA: microsoft · CVSS v3.1 · 3 references · NVD status: Modified

Description

Windows 10 Update Assistant Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability

Lifecycle

Complete event history — 3 events, chronological
Date	Event	Detail
October 12, 2021	Reserved	Reserved by microsoft
November 24, 2021	Published	Published (CNA: microsoft)
August 19, 2026	EXPLOIT PUBLISHED	EXPLOIT PUBLISHED — CVE-2021-42297 (Microsoft Windows Update Assistant). Public exploit reference added.

Affected

Affected products and packages — 1 row
Vendor	Product / Package	Ecosystem	Version introduced	Fixed
Microsoft	Windows Update Assistant	—	10.0.0	—

Weaknesses

CWE-59

References (3)

https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2021-42297
https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2021-42297 [Patch, Vendor Advisory]
https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-21-1334/ [Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry]

Authoritative record: CVE-2021-42297 at cve.org

Vendors: microsoft

Weaknesses: CWE-59

About this page

This is a reference page, not a dated page of record. It assembles the complete lifecycle of CVE-2021-42297 from the CVE Program record, NVD enrichment, the CISA KEV catalog, EPSS, and OSV advisories. The box score's numbers (CVSS, EPSS, KEV status) are current as of Sunday, October 4, 2026 UTC and are re-derived as the archive grows; only dated daily editions are immutable pages of record. The authoritative source for this identifier is cve.org.