CVE-2016-0165

CRITICALNVD 7.89.0▲
EchelonGraph scoreHIGH confidence

Score elevated to 9.0 because this CVE is listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2023-06-22), indicating real-world exploitation has been confirmed by US federal agencies. NVD baseline CVSS 7.8 retained for reference. Confidence: HIGH.

Triggered by: CISA KEV (actively exploited)
Sources: cisa_kev, epss, ghsa, nvd
Trending — 4 sources updated this weekExploited in the wild
9.0EG
EchelonGraph verdictMitigate nowTreat as an emergency — this is being exploited.
  • Actively exploited in the wild (CISA-KEV)
CISA-KEV: ExploitedEPSS PROB: 14%CVSS: 7.8Exploit: cisa kev · ssvc active · epss top5pct · public exploitExposed services: Not assessed

A fix is referenced (a reference tagged "Patch", often a source commit), but no release containing it is confirmed — find the release that contains it; until it is applied, mitigate (WAF / firewall / segmentation).

The kernel-mode driver in Microsoft Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 SP2 and R2 SP1, Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 Gold and R2, Windows RT 8.1, and Windows 10 Gold and 1511 allows local users to gain privileges via a crafted application, aka "Win32k Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability," a different vulnerability than CVE-2016-0143 and CVE-2016-0167.

CVSS v3
7.8
EG Score
9.0CRITICALhigh confidence
EG Risk
81
EG Risk 81/100CISA SSVC

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity90% × 45%
Exploitation100% × 40%
Automatability0% × 15%
CISA SSVC: Track at low, Attend at medium and Act at high mission impact.
Action: A fix is referenced, but no release containing it is confirmed. Check the referenced fix and the vendor's advisory for a release that contains it and apply that within your standard update timelines at low, sooner than that at medium and as soon as possible at high mission impact; until then, restrict network exposure of the affected system or apply the vendor's mitigation.
EPSS PROB
14%
EPSS %ILE
96th
KEV
⚠ Exploited

CISA SSVCTrack at low, Attend at medium and Act at high mission impact.

A fix is referenced, but no release containing it is confirmed. Check the referenced fix and the vendor's advisory for a release that contains it and apply that within your standard update timelines at low, sooner than that at medium and as soon as possible at high mission impact; until then, restrict network exposure of the affected system or apply the vendor's mitigation.

Exploitation active (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact total (CISA Vulnrichment). Mission impact is CISA's Mission & Well-being decision point, and only you can judge it: high means the affected system is essential to your organisation's mission, or its compromise could cause irreversible harm to people. CISA's decision table

Published

April 12, 2016

Last Modified

June 17, 2026

Advisory Details (5)

Auto-updated May 19, 2026
⚠️ Active exploitation confirmed. Fix referenced — no release confirmed yet. Sources: cisa.
cisa🔴 Active Exploitation

Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog | CISA

Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog | CISA. Listed in CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2016-0165
generic🟡 PoC Available

Microsoft Windows Kernel (7 x86) - Local Privilege Escalation (MS16-039) - Windows_x86 local Exploit

https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/44480/
generic

Microsoft Security Bulletin MS16-039 - Critical | Microsoft Learn

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/security-updates/securitybulletins/2016/ms16-039
generic
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1035532
generic
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1035529

Vendor Advisories for CVE-2016-0165(1)

These vendors published their own advisory mentioning this CVE — often with vendor-specific remediation steps + affected product lists not in NVD.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 94× in last 7d / 407× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

Showing the most recent 100 of 1,734 total refreshes for this CVE.

  1. 2026-10-06 06:10 UTCVendor advisory
  2. 2026-10-06 06:10 UTCGHSA enrichment
  3. 2026-10-06 06:02 UTCGHSA enrichment
  4. 2026-10-06 02:03 UTCVendor advisory
  5. 2026-10-06 02:03 UTCGHSA enrichment
  6. 2026-10-05 22:05 UTCVendor advisory
  7. 2026-10-05 22:05 UTCGHSA enrichment
  8. 2026-10-05 18:08 UTCEG score recompute
  9. 2026-10-05 18:08 UTCVendor advisory
  10. 2026-10-05 18:08 UTCGHSA enrichment
  11. 2026-10-05 17:38 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-10-05 14:11 UTCVendor advisory
  13. 2026-10-05 14:11 UTCGHSA enrichment
  14. 2026-10-05 10:14 UTCVendor advisory
  15. 2026-10-05 10:13 UTCGHSA enrichment
  16. 2026-10-05 06:16 UTCVendor advisory
  17. 2026-10-05 06:16 UTCGHSA enrichment
  18. 2026-10-05 02:18 UTCVendor advisory
  19. 2026-10-05 02:18 UTCGHSA enrichment
  20. 2026-10-04 22:20 UTCVendor advisory
  21. 2026-10-04 22:20 UTCGHSA enrichment
  22. 2026-10-04 18:22 UTCVendor advisory
  23. 2026-10-04 18:22 UTCGHSA enrichment
  24. 2026-10-04 14:22 UTCVendor advisory
  25. 2026-10-04 14:22 UTCGHSA enrichment
Show 75 more
  1. 2026-10-04 10:25 UTCVendor advisory
  2. 2026-10-04 10:25 UTCGHSA enrichment
  3. 2026-10-04 06:28 UTCVendor advisory
  4. 2026-10-04 06:28 UTCGHSA enrichment
  5. 2026-10-04 02:31 UTCVendor advisory
  6. 2026-10-04 02:31 UTCGHSA enrichment
  7. 2026-10-03 22:33 UTCVendor advisory
  8. 2026-10-03 22:32 UTCGHSA enrichment
  9. 2026-10-03 18:35 UTCVendor advisory
  10. 2026-10-03 18:34 UTCGHSA enrichment
  11. 2026-10-03 14:34 UTCEG score recompute
  12. 2026-10-03 14:34 UTCVendor advisory
  13. 2026-10-03 14:33 UTCGHSA enrichment
  14. 2026-10-03 14:21 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-10-03 10:35 UTCVendor advisory
  16. 2026-10-03 10:34 UTCGHSA enrichment
  17. 2026-10-03 06:34 UTCVendor advisory
  18. 2026-10-03 06:34 UTCGHSA enrichment
  19. 2026-10-03 02:36 UTCVendor advisory
  20. 2026-10-03 02:36 UTCGHSA enrichment
  21. 2026-10-02 22:39 UTCVendor advisory
  22. 2026-10-02 22:38 UTCGHSA enrichment
  23. 2026-10-02 18:39 UTCEG score recompute
  24. 2026-10-02 18:39 UTCVendor advisory
  25. 2026-10-02 18:39 UTCGHSA enrichment
  26. 2026-10-02 14:41 UTCVendor advisory
  27. 2026-10-02 14:41 UTCGHSA enrichment
  28. 2026-10-02 10:43 UTCVendor advisory
  29. 2026-10-02 10:42 UTCGHSA enrichment
  30. 2026-10-02 06:42 UTCVendor advisory
  31. 2026-10-02 06:42 UTCGHSA enrichment
  32. 2026-10-02 02:44 UTCVendor advisory
  33. 2026-10-02 02:44 UTCGHSA enrichment
  34. 2026-10-01 22:44 UTCEG score recompute
  35. 2026-10-01 22:44 UTCVendor advisory
  36. 2026-10-01 22:44 UTCGHSA enrichment
  37. 2026-10-01 18:47 UTCVendor advisory
  38. 2026-10-01 18:47 UTCGHSA enrichment
  39. 2026-10-01 14:49 UTCVendor advisory
  40. 2026-10-01 14:49 UTCGHSA enrichment
  41. 2026-10-01 10:52 UTCVendor advisory
  42. 2026-10-01 10:52 UTCGHSA enrichment
  43. 2026-10-01 06:54 UTCVendor advisory
  44. 2026-10-01 06:54 UTCGHSA enrichment
  45. 2026-10-01 02:57 UTCVendor advisory
  46. 2026-10-01 02:57 UTCGHSA enrichment
  47. 2026-09-30 22:57 UTCVendor advisory
  48. 2026-09-30 22:57 UTCGHSA enrichment
  49. 2026-09-30 19:00 UTCGHSA enrichment
  50. 2026-09-30 15:03 UTCEG score recompute
  51. 2026-09-30 15:03 UTCVendor advisory
  52. 2026-09-30 15:03 UTCGHSA enrichment
  53. 2026-09-30 14:58 UTCEPSS rescore
  54. 2026-09-30 14:58 UTCEPSS rescore
  55. 2026-09-30 11:05 UTCVendor advisory
  56. 2026-09-30 11:05 UTCGHSA enrichment
  57. 2026-09-30 07:07 UTCVendor advisory
  58. 2026-09-30 07:07 UTCGHSA enrichment
  59. 2026-09-30 03:07 UTCVendor advisory
  60. 2026-09-30 03:06 UTCGHSA enrichment
  61. 2026-09-29 23:09 UTCVendor advisory
  62. 2026-09-29 23:09 UTCGHSA enrichment
  63. 2026-09-29 19:09 UTCVendor advisory
  64. 2026-09-29 19:09 UTCGHSA enrichment
  65. 2026-09-29 15:09 UTCEG score recompute
  66. 2026-09-29 15:09 UTCVendor advisory
  67. 2026-09-29 15:09 UTCGHSA enrichment
  68. 2026-09-29 11:12 UTCVendor advisory
  69. 2026-09-29 11:12 UTCGHSA enrichment
  70. 2026-09-29 07:14 UTCVendor advisory
  71. 2026-09-29 07:14 UTCGHSA enrichment
  72. 2026-09-29 03:16 UTCVendor advisory
  73. 2026-09-29 03:16 UTCGHSA enrichment
  74. 2026-09-28 23:17 UTCEG score recompute
  75. 2026-09-28 23:17 UTCVendor advisory

Publicly available exploits

(1 reference)

Working exploit code is in the public domain (1 Exploit-DB entry). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.

  • Exploit-DBEDB-44480
    First seen Mar 1, 2018

    Microsoft Windows Kernel (7 x86) - Local Privilege Escalation (MS16-039)

    Open source ↗

Frequently asked(6)

What is CVE-2016-0165?
CVE-2016-0165 is a critical vulnerability published on April 12, 2016. The kernel-mode driver in Microsoft Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 SP2 and R2 SP1, Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 Gold and R2, Windows RT 8.1, and Windows 10 Gold and 1511 allows local users to gain privileges via a crafted application, aka "Win32k Elevation of Privilege…
When was CVE-2016-0165 disclosed?
CVE-2016-0165 was first published on April 12, 2016, with the most recent update on June 17, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2016-0165 actively exploited?
Yes. CISA added CVE-2016-0165 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on June 22, 2023, affecting Microsoft Win32k. KEV listing indicates confirmed exploitation in the wild; this CVE warrants immediate attention. A fix is referenced, but no release containing it is confirmed. Check the referenced fix and the vendor's advisory for a release that contains it and apply that; until then, restrict network exposure of the affected system or apply the vendor's mitigation.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2016-0165?
CVE-2016-0165 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.8 (NVD). EchelonGraph synthesises NVD + CISA KEV + FIRST EPSS + GHSA into a combined EG score of 9.0 (CRITICAL).
Which products are affected by CVE-2016-0165?
CVE-2016-0165 affects Microsoft Win32k.
How do I remediate CVE-2016-0165?
A fix for CVE-2016-0165 is referenced (a reference tagged "Patch", often a source commit), but EchelonGraph has no release containing it on record. Check that reference and the vendor's advisory for a release that contains the fix and update to it; until then, restrict network exposure of the affected system or apply the vendor's mitigation. The vendor advisories EchelonGraph has for CVE-2016-0165 are linked in the Vendor Advisories panel on this page.

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