Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessGain low-privileged local session
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DeliveryInvoke crafted NTFS filesystem operation
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ExploitOverflow heap buffer in NTFS driver
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ExecutionCorrupt kernel memory structures
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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 | Requires the attacker to already hold a low-privileged authenticated local session on the Windows host (PR:L), from which they invoke a crafted operation handled by the NTFS driver. No user interaction is needed (UI:N) and attack complexity is low (AC:L), but exploitation is strictly local (AV:L) - it cannot be launched remotely over the network and requires a prior foothold. It affects default configurations of all listed Windows and Windows Server versions below the patched builds (e.g., Windows Server 2022 <10.0.20348.5761, Windows 11 24H2 <10.0.26100.9711), since NTFS is the default filesystem; the main limiting factor is the need for existing local code execution. |
| Impact | This is a credible, patch-now priority for Windows fleets despite not being a remote-code-execution bug. The CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N) describes a local, low-complexity privilege escalation requiring only an existing low-privileged authenticated session, with full high impact to confidentiality, integrity, and availability (C:H/I:H/A:H), yielding a 7.8 HIGH base score. No EPSS score, CISA KEV listing, or public POC is present in the provided data, so there is no confirmed signal of active exploitation or available exploit code - meaning this is 'no public exploit identified at time of analysis.' SSVC framing: exploitation=none observed in this data, automatable=no (local EoP typically requires existing foothold, not automatable mass exploitation), technical impact=total. The real-world driver of risk here is not exploitation probability signals (which are absent) but the extreme prevalence of the affected component - NTFS ships in every supported Windows and Windows Server release. Local privilege-escalation flaws in the Windows kernel/filesystem are historically high-value for post-compromise chaining and are frequently added to KEV after initial disclosure, so the absence of a POC today should not be read as low urgency. No signals conflict; the primary limitation is the missing EPSS/KEV/POC telemetry, which prevents a confident exploitation-likelihood estimate. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker who has already obtained low-privileged code execution on a Windows host (e.g., via phishing, a compromised service account, or a standard user login) triggers a crafted operation against the NTFS driver that overflows a heap buffer, corrupting kernel memory to gain SYSTEM privileges. Because the vector is local with low complexity and no user interaction, this is a reliable second-stage escalation once initial access exists. No public exploit code is identified at time of analysis, but NTFS local EoP bugs are commonly weaponized post-disclosure. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Oct 13, 2026
Heap-based buffer overflow in the Windows NTFS kernel driver allows a user who already holds a low-privileged authenticated local session to trigger a crafted NTFS operation and elevate to SYSTEM-level privileges, with high confidentiality, integrity and availability impact (CVSS 7.8, CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H). Exploitation is strictly local: it cannot be launched remotely, requires an existing foothold on the host, and needs no user interaction, but the attack complexity is low; the main limiting factor is the need for pre-existing local code execution. Because NTFS is the default filesystem, all unpatched Windows 10, Windows 11 and Windows Server 2012 through 2025 builds listed by the vendor are affected, and Microsoft has released fixes, making this a patch-now priority for Windows fleets even though it is not a remote-code-execution bug; no public exploit has been identified at time of analysis.
RemediationAI
Apply the vendor-released Microsoft security update for each affected platform, which resolves the overflow in the NTFS driver and raises each build to or above its fixed level: Windows Server 2022 10.0.20348.5761, Windows Server 2025 10.0.26100.33650, Windows 11 24H2 10.0.26100.9711, Windows 11 25H2 10.0.26200.9711, Windows 11 23H2 10.0.22631.7652, Windows 11 26H1 10.0.28000.3231, Windows 11 26H2 10.0.26300.9711, Windows Server 2016 and Windows 10 1607 10.0.14393.9612, Windows Server 2019 and Windows 10 1809 10.0.17763.9376, Windows 10 21H2/22H2 10.0.19044.7807, Windows Server 2012 6.2.9200.26434 and Windows Server 2012 R2 6.3.9600.23470; full details are in the MSRC Security Update Guide at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-96916. Because exploitation requires an existing low-privileged local session, the most effective interim compensating control is to deny local logon or interactive execution to untrusted users and to aggressively remove or disable unnecessary local accounts and local administrative group members (trade-off: this narrows legitimate local access and requires an inventory of who genuinely needs interactive sessions). Where practical, tighten the ability to mount or attach untrusted storage images (ISO/VHD/VHDX) and to insert removable media for non-administrative users via policy, since crafted NTFS metadata is the natural delivery vehicle for this class of bug (trade-off: breaks legitimate image-based workflows and virtualisation tooling for standard users). Additional hardening that raises the bar for post-exploitation escalation includes enabling Credential Guard/LSA protection and enforcing application allowlisting to limit an attacker's ability to run the tooling needed to weaponise a kernel pool overflow (trade-off: potential application compatibility issues and added management overhead). Monitoring for unexpected ntfs.sys crash/bugcheck events and for kernel pool corruption indicators can provide detection coverage while patching completes; there is no configuration switch that disables NTFS, so patches, least privilege and reduced local access are the only meaningful mitigations.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 20 packages in euvd
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
NTFS is the default filesystem for Windows client and server editions, implemented largely in the kernel-mode driver ntfs.sys, which parses attacker-influenceable on-disk metadata such as MFT records, attribute lists, attribute headers, $LogFile entries and reparse points. This issue is a CWE-122 heap-based buffer overflow: a length or size field derived from crafted NTFS structures is not adequately validated before being used in a kernel pool allocation, so subsequent processing writes past the end of the allocated buffer. A pool overflow in a kernel driver that is reachable from a normal user context typically yields kernel-mode code execution, which is why the assessed impact is high across confidentiality, integrity and availability (C:H/I:H/A:H) and manifests as local privilege escalation to SYSTEM. The assessed vector AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N is consistent with the vendor description of an 'authorized attacker' acting locally with low privileges and no user interaction; it is not a network-reachable or unauthenticated issue, and exploitation depends on the attacker already being able to run code on the host and cause the NTFS driver to process the crafted operation or structure. Microsoft has addressed the flaw in the vendor update referenced in the MSRC Security Update Guide.
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Severity by source
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Local heap overflow needing an existing low-privileged session gives AV:L/PR:L/AC:L; kernel-level escalation to SYSTEM justifies full C:H/I:H/A:H with unchanged scope.
Primary rating from Vendor (microsoft).
CVSS VectorVendor: microsoft
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionCVE.org
Heap-based buffer overflow in Windows NTFS allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
Executive ViewAI
CVE-2026-96916 is a high-severity heap buffer overflow in the Windows NTFS kernel driver that lets an authenticated low-privileged local user elevate to SYSTEM on affected Windows 10, Windows 11, and Windows Server 2012 through 2025 systems. The business risk is concentrated on hosts where an attacker already has a local session, because successful exploitation would give full control of the machine and expose sensitive data and operations. No public exploit identified at time of analysis, but Microsoft has released fixes, so unpatched Windows fleets should be remediated promptly.
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.
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EUVD-2026-100239
GHSA-4hx2-8xf9-p244
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
Exploit-DB