---
id: "CVE-2014-1812"
kind: "vulnerability"
aliases: ["CVE-2014-1812"]
title: "Microsoft Windows: Microsoft Windows Group Policy Preferences Password Privilege Escalation Vulnerability"
severity: "critical"
cvss: 9.0
epss: 0.65117
exploited: true
status: "open"
category: "infrastructure"
products: [{"name": "Microsoft Windows", "fixed": [], "affected": "", "ecosystem": "vendor"}]
ecosystems: ["vendor"]
tags: ["active-directory", "exploited", "group-policy", "infrastructure", "ransomware", "windows"]
not_affected_if: ["no-active-directory", "no-gpp-passwords"]
published_at: "2014-05-14T11:13:06+00:00"
first_seen_at: "2026-10-23T19:11:53+00:00"
updated_at: "2026-10-23T21:57:35+00:00"
sources: [{"source": "kev", "url": "https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?search_api_fulltext=CVE-2014-1812", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T19:11:53+00:00"}, {"source": "epss", "url": "https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2014-1812", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T19:13:44+00:00"}, {"source": "nvd", "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2014-1812", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-23T21:57:35+00:00"}]
---

# Microsoft Windows: Microsoft Windows Group Policy Preferences Password Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

Windows Active Directory stores passwords set through Group Policy Preferences in a form that an authenticated user can decrypt. An attacker with any domain account can recover those passwords and use them to gain higher privileges across the domain.

_Summary, check and fix written by a model from the sources; labelled as such._

## Affected

- vendor:Microsoft Windows affected ? fixed ?

## How to check

Search SYSVOL for Group Policy Preferences files containing cpassword attributes, for example: findstr /S /I cpassword \\<domain>\SYSVOL\*.xml

## Fix

Apply the Microsoft update for MS14-025 per vendor instructions, then remove any stored cpassword entries from Group Policy Preferences and rotate the passwords they contained.

## Timeline

- 2026-10-23T19:11:53+00:00 kev https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?search_api_fulltext=CVE-2014-1812
- 2026-10-23T19:13:44+00:00 epss https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2014-1812
- 2026-10-23T21:57:35+00:00 nvd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2014-1812

## From the sources

The Group Policy implementation in Microsoft Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 SP2 and R2 SP1, Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, and Windows Server 2012 Gold and R2 does not properly handle distribution of passwords, which allows remote authenticated users to obtain sensitive credential information and consequently gain privileges by leveraging access to the SYSVOL share, as exploited in the wild in May 2014, aka "Group Policy Preferences Password Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability."

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_Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai_