Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
-
AccessObtain low-privileged local foothold
-
DeliveryCraft malicious input to Direct Composition
-
ExploitTrigger heap-based buffer overflow (CWE-122)
-
ExecutionCorrupt heap and hijack execution
-
ImpactExecute code as SYSTEM
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Heap buffer bounds checking
MITRE ATT&CK
1 technique across 1 tactic: Execution The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires the attacker to already possess local, authenticated low-privilege access (PR:L) to a vulnerable Windows host - this is a post-compromise privilege-escalation primitive, not a remote entry point (AV:L). The affected component is the Windows Direct Composition graphics subsystem, present by default in Windows 11 (24H2, 25H2, 26H2) and Windows Server 2025 (including Server Core), so no special non-default configuration or feature toggle is needed. No user interaction is required (UI:N) and attack complexity is low (AC:L). The primary limiting factor is the prerequisite local foothold: an attacker with no access to the machine cannot use this flaw directly, which bounds its real-world risk despite the HIGH score. |
| Impact | This is a credible but not emergency-level priority. The CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H, score 7.8 HIGH) describes a local privilege-escalation flaw: the attacker must already have local, low-privilege code execution on the host, but once there, exploitation is low-complexity, needs no user interaction, and yields total compromise (C:H/I:H/A:H) - consistent with SSVC 'Technical Impact: total'. These signals align with each other and are not contradictory. However, exposure-side signals point to lower immediacy: SSVC 'Exploitation: none' and the absence of any CISA KEV listing or published POC mean there is no public exploit identified at time of analysis, and SSVC 'Automatable: no' indicates it cannot be reliably mass-exploited (expected for a local heap overflow requiring a prior foothold). No EPSS score was supplied in the input, so probabilistic exploitation likelihood cannot be factored in - treat that as a gap. Net: a real second-stage escalation primitive valuable in a post-compromise chain, worthy of normal patch-cycle prioritization across the Windows fleet, but not a drop-everything issue given no active exploitation and no automatability. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker who has already achieved low-privileged code execution on a Windows host (e.g., via phishing, a malicious application, or a compromised standard user account) invokes the Direct Composition component with crafted input that triggers a heap-based buffer overflow. By corrupting heap structures to hijack control flow, the attacker elevates from the standard user context to SYSTEM. No user interaction is required and attack complexity is low, but no public exploit code has been identified at the time of analysis. |
Get an e-mail when this CVE is exploited, patched or re-scored. Free account.
Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Oct 14, 2026
Local privilege escalation in Windows Direct Composition - the desktop compositor subsystem shipped by default in Windows 11 24H2, 25H2 and 26H2 and in Windows Server 2025, including Server Core - lets an attacker who already holds low-privilege local access corrupt heap memory and execute code at a higher integrity level (CVSS:3.1 7.8, AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H). Exploitation is bounded by the prerequisite of an existing authenticated foothold on the host, so this is a post-compromise escalation primitive rather than a remote entry point; the independent assessment rates it a credible but not emergency-level priority. A vendor patch is available from Microsoft, and there is no public exploit identified at time of analysis (SSVC exploitation: none) and no KEV listing.
RemediationAI
Apply the Microsoft vendor patch referenced in the MSRC update guide for CVE-2026-83903 (https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-83903); the fixed builds are 10.0.26100.9711 for Windows 11 24H2, 10.0.26200.9711 for Windows 11 25H2, 10.0.26300.9711 for Windows 11 26H2, and 10.0.26100.33650 for Windows Server 2025 and Windows Server 2025 Server Core, so verify the installed build (winver or Get-ComputerInfo) after servicing. Because the flaw requires an attacker to already run code locally at low privilege, the most effective compensating controls are the ones that shrink that foothold: enforce least-privilege standard user accounts and remove unnecessary local administrative rights, restrict interactive and RDP logon on sensitive servers to named administrators, and keep application-control (WDAC/AppLocker) and attack-surface-reduction policies in place to limit execution of untrusted binaries - the trade-off is added onboarding and help-desk friction for legitimate software. Where patching must be deferred, monitor for repeated crashes in the compositor/DWM process, unusual child-process creation from graphics or DWM-related processes, and anomalous token or integrity-level changes shortly after user logon, since these are the observable side effects of a heap-overflow LPE attempt; no reliable network-level or configuration-level workaround exists because DirectComposition is enabled by default and cannot simply be turned off without breaking the desktop experience.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 5 packages in euvd
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
The root cause class is CWE-122, a heap-based buffer overflow, in Windows Direct Composition (DirectComposition), the user-mode graphics API and compositor plumbing that Windows applications use to compose visual surfaces into the Desktop Window Manager rendering pipeline. DirectComposition surface, visual and animation objects are created by unprivileged processes but are processed by a more privileged compositor context, which is exactly why a memory-safety defect in parsing or handling attacker-influenced composition state converts into an elevation-of-privilege primitive rather than a mere application crash. The heap overflow implies an allocation whose size is computed or trusted from attacker-controlled input and is then written past its boundary, allowing adjacent heap metadata or objects to be corrupted and subsequently leveraged for controlled code execution. Because DirectComposition is a default, always-present part of the Windows graphics stack - it is not an optional feature or a non-default service - the vulnerable code path exists on every affected Windows 11 and Windows Server 2025 installation, and no special configuration is needed to reach it. The AV:L/PR:L vector confirmed in the independent assessment means the flaw cannot be triggered without local code execution already running on the machine, and the CWE/component combination (privileged graphics broker processing untrusted client input) is a well-established LPE pattern on Windows.
Know when Windows gets its next vulnerability
- Watch products and get an email when something new is published
- Check this CVE against your own stack and servers
- Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources
No credit card · 7-day full trial
Severity by source
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Local privilege escalation requiring a low-privilege foothold (AV:L, PR:L), no user interaction, low complexity, yielding SYSTEM-level total compromise (C:H/I:H/A:H).
Primary rating from Vendor (microsoft).
CVSS VectorVendor: microsoft
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionCVE.org
Heap-based buffer overflow in Windows Direct Composition allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
Executive ViewAI
A high-severity local privilege escalation flaw in the Windows Direct Composition desktop compositor affects Windows 11 24H2, 25H2, 26H2, and Windows Server 2025, including Server Core deployments. Because exploitation requires an attacker to already hold a low-privilege foothold on the host, the primary risk is that an intruder or malicious insider could elevate to SYSTEM-level integrity, turning a contained compromise into full control of the endpoint or server. Leadership should treat this as a post-compromise escalation risk that raises the stakes of any existing intrusion rather than as a new external attack path.
Apply vendor patch.
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
A buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a memory buffer than it was allocated to hold, causing the excess data to spill into adjacent memory regions.
A heap overflow occurs when a program writes data beyond the bounds of a buffer allocated in the heap memory region.
Unauthenticated remote code execution in SmarterTools SmarterMail lets an attacker upload arbitrary files to any locatio
Windows Win32k fails to properly handle objects in memory, allowing local privilege escalation exploited in the wild in
A privilege escalation vulnerability (CVSS 5.5). Risk factors: actively exploited (KEV-listed), EPSS 94% exploitation pr
Windows Internet Shortcut Files (.url) contain an external control vulnerability (CVE-2025-33053, CVSS 8.8) that enables
Windows SMB contains an improper access control vulnerability (CVE-2025-33073, CVSS 8.8) enabling authenticated attacker
Twonky Server 8.5.2 on Linux and Windows allows unauthenticated access to the admin log file through a web service API b
An unrestricted file upload vulnerability exists in MiniWeb HTTP Server <= Build 300 that allows unauthenticated remote
FreeFloat FTP Server contains multiple critical design flaws that allow unauthenticated remote attackers to upload arbit
Serviio Media Server versions 1.4 through 1.8 on Windows contain an unauthenticated command injection in the /rest/actio
Twonky Server 8.5.2 uses hard-coded cryptographic keys for encrypting the administrator password. Combined with the cred
Mako Server versions 2.5 and 2.6 contain an unauthenticated OS command injection via the tutorial interface at examples/
React Native Metro Development Server binds to external interfaces by default and contains an OS command injection endpo
EUVD-2026-100035
GHSA-9268-6277-cgg6
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
Exploit-DB