# CVE-2019-16098: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Authenticated users can exploit the MSI Afterburner driver to read/write arbitrary memory, enabling privilege escalation and code execution.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 11 Sep 2019
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-pgj3-5w38-pg9m

## What is CVE-2019-16098?

CVE-2019-16098 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 11 Sep 2019. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The driver in Micro-Star MSI Afterburner 4.6.2.15658 (aka RTCore64.sys and RTCore32.sys) allows any authenticated user to read and write to arbitrary memory, I/O ports, and MSRs. This can be exploited for privilege escalation, code execution under high privileges, and information disclosure. These signed drivers can also be used to bypass the Microsoft driver-signing policy to deploy malicious code.

Weakness: CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write), CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-16098?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Msi Afterburner.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-16098?

No fix has been published for CVE-2019-16098 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2019-16098 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-16098 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code:

- Local privilege escalation PoC exploit for CVE-2019-16098 (github_poc): https://github.com/Barakat/CVE-2019-16098
- This exploit rebuilds and exploit the CVE-2019-16098 which is in driver Micro-Star MSI Afterburner 4.6.2.15658 (aka RTCore64.sys and RTCore32.sys) allows any authenticated user to read and write to arbitrary memory, I/O ports, and MSRs. Instead of hardcoded base address of Ntoskrnl.exe, I calculated it dynamically and recalulated the fields offsets (github_poc): https://github.com/Offensive-Panda/NT-AUTHORITY-SYSTEM-CONTEXT-RTCORE
- https://github.com/0xDivyanshu-new/CVE-2019-16098 (github_poc): https://github.com/0xDivyanshu-new/CVE-2019-16098
- # VortexCry-Ransomware VortexCry is an advanced ransomware that utilizes multi-stage process injection (such as Process Hollowing and APC Injection) and kernel driver loading (via the CVE-2019-16098 vulnerability). It is capable of encrypting files, destroying system recovery functionalities, and demanding a ransom. (github_poc): https://github.com/VortexCry-Organization/VortexCry-Ransomware-Release
- A tiny cpp program to test reading memory using a vulnerable RTCore64.sys driver/device (CVE-2019-16098).  It tries to read a "secret" from its own memory using the driver, to test if the handle has been closed. This requires the RTCore64.sys driver to be loaded before execution! (github_poc): https://github.com/CrowTheArchfiend/RTCore64-probe

## Other vulnerabilities in n/a

- [CVE-2024-1460](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-1460/): MSI Afterburner v4.6.5.16370 - Kernel Memory Leak (medium 5.6)
- [CVE-2024-1443](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-1443/): MSI Afterburner v4.6.5.16370 - Denial of Service (medium 4.4)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2019-16098 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-16098 is a high-severity vulnerability in n/a, published on 11 Sep 2019. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-16098 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-16098/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-16098/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-16098
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-16098
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-16098

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-16098/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.