EUVD-2026-44132
GHSA-rpcw-p2wq-6jgp
Severity by source
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Local elevation of privilege from an authenticated low-privileged user (AV:L, PR:L), low complexity and no interaction, yielding full SYSTEM-level C/I/A impact with unchanged scope.
Primary rating from Vendor (microsoft).
CVSS VectorVendor: microsoft
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionCVE.org
Use after free in Windows Media allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
AnalysisAI
Local privilege escalation in Microsoft Windows Media (a component shipping in Windows 11 versions 24H2, 25H2, and 26H1) lets an authenticated local attacker execute code at elevated privilege by triggering a use-after-free (CWE-416) memory-corruption condition. Reported by Microsoft with a vendor patch available, it carries CVSS 7.8 (High) and can yield full confidentiality, integrity, and availability compromise of the host. There is no public exploit identified at time of analysis and it is not listed in CISA KEV.
Technical ContextAI
The flaw resides in Windows Media, the multimedia handling stack built into Windows 11 that parses and renders audio/video content. The root cause is CWE-416 (Use After Free): the component continues to reference a memory object after it has been freed, allowing an attacker who can control the reallocated memory to corrupt program state and hijack execution flow. The affected CPEs identify Microsoft Windows 11 version 24H2 (cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:windows_11_version_24h2), version 25H2 (cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:windows_11_version_25h2), and version 26H1 (cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:windows_11_version_26h1). Use-after-free conditions in privileged OS components are a classic vector for local elevation of privilege because the corrupted object can be steered toward controlled function pointers or object headers, and the tags additionally note a Denial of Service dimension consistent with memory-corruption crashes.
RemediationAI
Patch available per vendor advisory: apply the Microsoft update for CVE-2026-50677 via the standard monthly Windows Update / WSUS / Intune channel for the relevant Windows 11 branch (24H2, 25H2, or 26H1), referencing the MSRC guidance at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-50677 for the exact KB and build for your version. Exact fix version numbers were not included in the input, so pull them directly from the MSRC page rather than assuming. As interim compensating controls where immediate patching is not possible, enforce least-privilege (remove unnecessary local/interactive logon rights and limit which low-privilege users can run on multi-user or RDP hosts), since exploitation requires an authenticated local foothold; restrict handling and rendering of untrusted media files on high-value hosts; and enable exploit-mitigation/EDR memory-integrity protections that can disrupt use-after-free exploitation - noting the trade-off that hardware-enforced stack/heap protections may affect compatibility with some legacy media codecs.
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Same weakness CWE-416 – Use After Free
View allSame technique Denial Of Service
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External POC / Exploit Code
Leaving vuln.today