Windows Downgrade Attack Risks Exposing Patched Systems to Old Vulnerabilities
By Nathan Zych, Chief Executive Officer · · Updated July 10, 2025 · 1 min read
Microsoft has announced the development of security updates to address two loopholes that could potentially be used to stage downgrade attacks against the Windows update architecture. These attacks could enable the replacement of current versions of Windows files with older versions, posing significant security risks.
The vulnerabilities identified are:
- CVE-2024-38202 (CVSS score: 7.3) – Windows Update Stack Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
- CVE-2024-21302 (CVSS score: -) – Windows File Replacement Vulnerability
About the author
Nathan Zych, Chief Executive Officer
Written and reviewed by the Outsource IT team, a Burlington, Ontario managed IT services provider supporting businesses across the GTA for over 20 years. Meet the team.
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