Severity by source
AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Local media-parsing overflow realistically needs the victim/operator to process a crafted file, so AV:L and UI:R; no prior privileges (PR:N) and full code-execution impact yields C/I/A:H.
Primary rating from Vendor (microsoft).
CVSS VectorNVD
Lifecycle Timeline
5DescriptionNVD
Heap-based buffer overflow in Microsoft Windows Media Foundation allows an unauthorized attacker to execute code locally.
AnalysisAI
Local code execution in Microsoft Windows Media Foundation stems from a heap-based buffer overflow (CWE-122) that lets an attacker run arbitrary code in the context of the exploiting process across a broad range of Windows client and server builds, from Windows 10 1607 and Windows Server 2012 through Windows 11 26H1 and Windows Server 2025. Microsoft rates it CVSS 8.4 (AV:L) with total confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact. There is no public exploit identified at time of analysis and CISA SSVC marks exploitation as none, while EPSS sits low at 0.48% (38th percentile).
Technical ContextAI
Media Foundation is the core multimedia platform in modern Windows that handles playback, encoding, and processing of audio/video content through pluggable codecs and media source/sink components; it parses complex, attacker-influenceable container and codec data. The root cause is CWE-122, a heap-based buffer overflow: undersized or improperly validated allocations are overrun when malformed media data is processed, corrupting adjacent heap structures and enabling control-flow hijacking. The CPE and EUVD data confirm the flaw lives in the OS-shipped Media Foundation component rather than a third-party application, so it is present wherever the affected Windows versions are installed.
RemediationAI
Patch available per vendor advisory - apply the Microsoft security update for CVE-2026-56189 (https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-56189), which raises each build to at least its fixed version (for example Windows 11 24H2 to 10.0.26100.8875, Windows Server 2022 to 10.0.20348.5386, Windows Server 2025 to 10.0.26100.33158, Windows 10 22H2 to 10.0.19045.7548). Prioritize systems that routinely process untrusted media. Where immediate patching is impossible, reduce exposure by restricting handling of untrusted audio/video files and streams, avoiding preview/thumbnail generation of untrusted media, and limiting local access on multi-user or server hosts so an attacker cannot supply crafted input to Media Foundation; note these controls degrade multimedia functionality and do not fully eliminate the flaw, so they are stopgaps until the update is deployed.
More in Windows 10 Version 1607
View allRemote code execution in Windows IKE Extension (Internet Key Exchange) via double free memory corruption allows unauthen
Local privilege escalation in Microsoft Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) lets an already-authenticated low-p
Windows Shell protection mechanism failure (CVE-2026-32202) allows remote attackers to perform spoofing attacks over a n
Local privilege escalation in the Microsoft Windows Kernel allows an unauthorized attacker to gain elevated (SYSTEM-leve
Local code execution in the Windows DHCP Client service stems from a use-after-free (CWE-416) memory-corruption flaw aff
Remote code execution in the Microsoft Windows DHCP Server role allows an unauthenticated network attacker to run arbitr
Local code execution in the Windows Media component of supported Windows 10, Windows 11, and Windows Server (2016 throug
Local privilege escalation via heap-based buffer overflow in the Windows Message Queuing (MSMQ) Queue Manager component
Local privilege escalation in Microsoft Windows Win32K lets an authenticated low-privileged user corrupt kernel heap mem
Local privilege escalation in the Windows NTFS file system driver lets an authenticated low-privileged user win a race c
Elevation of privilege in the Windows Hyper-V virtual network switch (VMSwitch) lets an authenticated attacker operating
Remote code execution in Microsoft Windows Remote Desktop (RDP) allows an unauthorized network attacker to run arbitrary
Same weakness CWE-122 – Heap-based Buffer Overflow
View allSame technique Heap Overflow
View allShare
External POC / Exploit Code
Leaving vuln.today
EUVD-2026-44247
GHSA-7mv3-4x8j-4pgx