Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessGain low-privileged local access
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DeliveryTamper with externally-controlled PowerToys config setting
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ExploitUser interaction triggers privileged consumption
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ExecutionMalicious setting executes in elevated context
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ImpactLocal privilege escalation achieved
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A02:2025 - Security Misconfiguration
ASVS 5.0
V13 - Configuration Configuration hardening
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| Exploitation Conditions | Requires the attacker to already have authenticated low-privileged local access to the host (PR:L) and the ability to manipulate an externally-controlled PowerToys configuration setting (CWE-15). Exploitation additionally depends on user interaction (UI:R) - a legitimate or privileged user/process must consume the tampered configuration for escalation to occur - which is the primary limiting factor. It is local-only (AV:L), so it cannot be triggered remotely or by an unauthenticated attacker, and it is bounded to systems where Microsoft PowerToys versions 0.1 up to but not including 0.101.2632.0 are installed and in use. |
| Impact | This is a locally-exploitable elevation-of-privilege flaw (CWE-15, external control of configuration setting) in Microsoft PowerToys with a vendor-assigned CVSS 7.3. The CVSS vector (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R) is internally consistent with a local EoP: the attacker must already have low-privileged local access, exploitation is low-complexity, but it requires user interaction (UI:R), which meaningfully limits automated/remote mass exploitation. Impact is high across confidentiality, integrity, and availability (C:H/I:H/A:H), consistent with gaining elevated privileges. No EPSS score, no CISA KEV listing, and no POC indicator are present in the input, so there is no public exploit identified at time of analysis and no evidence of active exploitation - this reads as a credible but not emergency priority. The real-world risk is moderate: it is a privilege escalation requiring prior local foothold and user interaction, not an unauthenticated remote compromise, so it is best treated as a patch-in-normal-cycle item unless PowerToys runs on high-value multi-user hosts. Note a data conflict: the 'Information Disclosure' tag contradicts the description (elevation of privileges) and the full-triad CVSS impact, so that tag appears mislabeled. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | A low-privileged local user who can influence an externally-controlled PowerToys configuration setting plants a malicious value, then induces a higher-privileged user (or triggers a privileged PowerToys component) to act on it. When that configuration is consumed, the attacker's input causes execution in a higher privilege context, elevating the attacker from standard user toward administrator/SYSTEM. No public exploit code is identified at time of analysis, and the UI:R requirement means the attack hinges on a user action to complete. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Oct 13, 2026
Local privilege escalation in Microsoft PowerToys allows an authenticated low-privileged attacker to tamper with an externally controllable PowerToys configuration setting and, once a legitimate or higher-privileged user or process consumes that tampered configuration, gain elevated privileges on the same host; the vendor-assigned CVSS is 7.3 (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), with high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact. Affected are PowerToys installations from 0.1 up to but not including 0.101.2632.0 on Windows. Exploitation requires authenticated local access plus user interaction, so it is not remotely triggerable and not an unauthenticated attack path; there is no confirmed active exploitation (not in CISA KEV) and no public exploit identified at time of analysis.
RemediationAI
Vendor-released patch: upgrade Microsoft PowerToys to version 0.101.2632.0 or later; this is the primary and recommended fix, and the authoritative instructions are in the Microsoft Security Response Center update guide at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-96188. Where immediate upgrade is not possible, the exploitation chain can be broken by removing the low-privileged local write path that feeds the tampered setting: restrict NTFS write permissions on the PowerToys configuration directories under the affected user profiles so non-administrative accounts cannot modify settings consumed by privileged components, accepting the trade-off that PowerToys users must then run with elevated rights to change their own preferences. Administrators can also reduce exposure by disabling PowerToys features that execute with elevated privileges or that reload configuration from user-writable paths, at the cost of losing that functionality, and by ensuring PowerToys modules are not launched by or on behalf of privileged accounts during untrusted sessions. Because the assessed vector requires user interaction (UI:R), tightening local account hygiene - no shared low-privilege accounts on multi-user hosts, and no launch of elevated PowerToys workflows from untrusted sessions - further limits exploitability. Re-verify the installed PowerToys build after remediation, since the flaw depends strictly on the pre-0.101.2632.0 version range.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in euvd
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Technical ContextAI · show details
The root cause is CWE-15, external control of a system or configuration setting: PowerToys reads configuration from user-influenced locations (settings files and per-module configuration under the user profile), and the vulnerable build does not sufficiently validate or protect a setting that is later consumed by a process or component running with higher privileges. Because the setting is externally controllable, a low-privileged local actor can plant or modify it, and the escalation occurs when a privileged consumer loads it - which is why the vector carries PR:L and UI:R rather than PR:N. PowerToys is a Windows power-user utility suite composed of many independent modules (each with its own configuration surface), so the affected attack surface is the configuration-loading path shared across the installed 0.x builds. The scope is unchanged (S:U), meaning the impact is bounded to the same security authority and host, consistent with a local elevation-of-privilege rather than a sandbox or virtual machine escape. The single authoritative reference is the Microsoft Security Response Center update guide entry for CVE-2026-96188, and the ENISA EUVD record (EUVD-2026-100194) corroborates the affected version range.
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Severity by source
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Local EoP requiring an existing low-privileged account (PR:L) and a triggering user action (UI:R) to consume the attacker-controlled config; full-triad high impact on the same system (S:U).
Primary rating from Vendor (microsoft).
CVSS VectorVendor: microsoft
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionCVE.org
External control of system or configuration setting in Microsoft PowerToys allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
Executive ViewAI
Microsoft PowerToys on Windows endpoints contains a local privilege escalation vulnerability affecting versions from 0.1 up to but not including 0.101.2632.0. An authenticated low-privileged attacker with local access and user interaction could escalate privileges on the same host, potentially compromising confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data on affected workstations. Leadership should prioritize patching because a successful escalation could give an attacker higher-privileged access on that host, and no public exploit identified at time of analysis.
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.
EUVD-2026-100194
GHSA-xv6f-p8rv-33x4
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
Exploit-DB