CVE-2021-43890
Windows AppX Installer Spoofing Vulnerability
Exploited in the wild. In CISA KEV since 2021‑12‑15. A vendor fix is available.
What to do
The vendor has published a fix. Version details are below where the sources state them.
What it is
From the CVE record
We have investigated reports of a spoofing vulnerability in AppX installer that affects Microsoft Windows. Microsoft is aware of attacks that attempt to exploit this vulnerability by using specially crafted packages that include the malware family known as Emotet/Trickbot/Bazaloader. An attacker could craft a malicious attachment to be used in phishing campaigns. The attacker would then have to convince the user to open the specially crafted attachment. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights. Please see the Security Updates table for the link to the updated app. Alternatively you can download and install the Installer using the links provided in the FAQ section. Please see the Mitigations and Workaround sections for important information about steps you can take to protect your system from this vulnerability. December 27 2023 Update: In recent months, Microsoft Threat Intelligence has seen an increase in activity from threat actors leveraging social engineering and phishing techniques to target Windows OS users and utilizing the ms-appinstaller URI scheme. To address this increase in activity, we have updated the App Installer to disable the ms-appinstaller protocol by default and recommend other potential mitigations.
In plain language
No plain-language summary for this CVE yet.
Exploitation
Where each signal puts this CVE on the scale from published to confirmed exploited.
- CISA KEV
Listed as exploited in the wild since 2021-12-15.
US federal agencies must remediate by 2021-12-29.
Known use in ransomware campaigns.
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
- Public exploits
No public exploit or proof of concept found in the sources we track.
- EPSS
10% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, which ranks it in the 96th percentile of scored CVEs.
Exploit Prediction Scoring System, FIRST.org. A probability, not a confirmation.
Lifecycle
11 events over 1695 days, from the signal feeds we watch.
- Patch availablerecord updated
- Patch availablerecord updated
- Patch availablerecord updated
- Patch availablerecord updated
- Added to CISA KEVransomware campaignpublished, weakness classified
Affected products
Technical detail
CVSS 3.1 vector
Open in the CVSS calculatorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Scored 7.1 by NVD.
How it is reached
- Attack Vector NetworkExploitable remotely over the network without any special conditions
- Attack Complexity HighRequires specific conditions like a race condition or non-default configuration
- Privileges Required LowRequires basic user-level privileges
- User Interaction RequiredA user must click a link, open a file, or perform some action
Scope
- Scope UnchangedImpact is limited to the vulnerable component itself
Impact if exploited
- Confidentiality HighTotal information disclosure — all data in the component is compromised
- Integrity HighTotal loss of integrity — attacker can modify any data in the component
- Availability HighTotal denial of service — the component is completely unavailable
Weaknesses
Sources
References in the record
- portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-US/security-guidance/advisory/CVE-2021-43890
- bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-disables-msix-protocol-handler-abused-in-malware-attacks/
- thehackernews.com/2023/12/microsoft-disables-msix-app-installer.html
And 8 more references. See all after sign-in
Watch the software you run.
My Stack ranks new CVEs for your products by real-world exploitation, so the next exploited one reaches you without reading every advisory.
We'll flag the next CVE, public exploit or patch for App Installer, not every advisory. This one: actively exploited.
A free account adds
- The full version matrix and every affected product
- Exploit links, proofs of concept and Metasploit modules
- Email alerts for the products you watch
- The same data over REST API, MCP and CLI