Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
A user with limited access to an affected Windows system could potentially gain greater privileges through Microsoft Message Queuing. Successful exploitation could expose or alter sensitive information and disrupt the system. The attack requires local access and high complexity, reducing—but not removing—the urgency.
Executive priority
Treat this as a high-priority patching issue, especially on sensitive servers and multi-user systems. It is less urgent than unauthenticated remote compromise because an attacker first needs local low-privileged access, but it could convert an existing foothold into full system impact.
Technical view
CVE-2024-21355 is an MSMQ elevation-of-privilege vulnerability classified as CWE-591. Its CVSS 3.1 score is 7.0: local access, low privileges, high attack complexity, and no user interaction. Successful exploitation may cause high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact without crossing a security boundary.
Likely exposure
Exposure should be assessed across the listed Windows 10, Windows 11, and Windows Server versions. Prioritize systems where MSMQ is present and untrusted or compromised users can obtain local low-privileged access. The supplied evidence does not establish whether every installation is exploitable by default.
Exploitation context
The supplied CVSS vector indicates exploitation requires an authenticated, low-privileged local position and high attack complexity, with no user interaction. The bundle reports KEV as false and provides no cited evidence of active exploitation or a publicly available exploit.
Researcher notes
The authoritative assessment is CVSS 3.1 7.0 with AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. CWE-591 is supplied, but the bundle contains no root-cause detail, exploit mechanics, affected-component configuration, specific KB identifiers, or telemetry guidance. Validate those details directly against Microsoft’s advisory.
Mitigation direction
- Apply the applicable Microsoft security update for each affected Windows version.
- Review Microsoft guidance for prerequisites, deployment instructions, and any documented mitigations.
- Prioritize shared, sensitive, and externally reachable systems where local footholds are more plausible.
- Restrict unnecessary local access while updates are being deployed.
Validation and detection
- Inventory systems running the Windows versions identified in Microsoft’s advisory.
- Determine where MSMQ is installed or operational using approved asset-management methods.
- Verify the applicable Microsoft security update is installed successfully.
- Confirm update compliance through vulnerability scanning and endpoint-management records.
- Recheck Microsoft’s advisory for revised affected-product or remediation information.
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-591: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupPrivilege behavior lookup
The CVE wording references privilege impact, so privilege escalation and authorization behavior review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2024-21355 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 7 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
SSVC decision data
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C15.9microsoftVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:U/RL:O/RC:C
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ) Elevation of Privilege VulnerabilityCVE reference, microsoft · vendor-advisory, patch
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.