Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessObtain low-privileged local account
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DeliveryInvoke crafted request to Search Component
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ExploitTrigger untrusted pointer dereference
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ExecutionRead out-of-bounds memory
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ImpactDisclose sensitive information
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Untrusted pointer prevention
|
| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires local code execution on the affected host as an authenticated low-privileged user (PR:L), targeting the Windows Search Component (the indexing/search service present by default on Windows). No victim user interaction is needed (UI:N) and no special non-default feature must be enabled - the Search Component is a standard Windows service. The principal limiting factors are the local attack vector (AV:L), meaning no remote network exploitation is possible, and the requirement for prior authenticated access, so the flaw cannot be used for initial remote compromise and is realistically a post-foothold memory-disclosure capability. Impact is confined to confidentiality (reading memory); it grants no integrity or availability effect. |
| Impact | This is a moderate-severity local information disclosure flaw (CVSS 5.5) in the Windows Search Component, and the signals are consistent and point toward low real-world urgency. The CVSS vector (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U) confirms the attacker must already have local access and low-level privileges (an authenticated user), limiting reach to attackers with an existing foothold. The CISA SSVC decision framework reinforces this: Exploitation is 'none' (no observed exploitation), Automatable is 'no' (cannot be reliably scripted at scale), and Technical Impact is 'partial' - aligning with the single high-confidentiality, no-integrity, no-availability impact (C:H/I:N/A:N). There is no CISA KEV listing, no public POC, and no EPSS score was supplied in the input. No signals conflict. In practice this is a high-ubiquity-product but low-real-risk issue best treated as a routine patch-cycle item rather than an emergency, though its presence on nearly every Windows host warrants eventual remediation given it could serve as a post-compromise information-gathering primitive. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker who already has low-privileged authenticated access to a Windows host (for example via a standard user account or an initial foothold) runs a crafted local process that triggers an untrusted pointer dereference in the Windows Search Component, causing it to read and disclose memory contents the attacker should not be able to see. No public exploit code has been identified, and the attack requires local access with no user interaction from a victim. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Oct 13, 2026
Local information disclosure in the Microsoft Windows Search Component lets an authenticated low-privileged user read out-of-bounds memory contents on the affected host, giving a post-foothold attacker a confidentiality-only leak (CVSS 5.5, AV:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N) with no integrity or availability impact. Every current Windows client and server branch is affected - Windows 10 1607/1809/21H2/22H2, Windows 11 23H2/24H2/25H2/26H1/26H2, and Windows Server 2012 through 2025 including Server Core - so the exposure is broad even though the flaw cannot be used for remote initial access. No public exploit identified at time of analysis: CISA SSVC records Exploitation: none and Automatable: no, CISA KEV does not list this CVE, and no EPSS signal was provided; urgency is driven by patch hygiene rather than active threat activity. Microsoft has released fixes (see the MSRC update guide referenced below).
RemediationAI
Vendor-released patch: apply the Microsoft security update that brings each branch to or above its fixed build - 10.0.26300.9711 (Windows 11 26H2), 10.0.28000.3231 (26H1), 10.0.26200.9711 (25H2), 10.0.26100.9711 (24H2), 10.0.22631.7652 (23H2), 10.0.19044.7807 (Windows 10 21H2/22H2), 10.0.17763.9376 (Windows 10 1809 / Server 2019), 10.0.14393.9612 (Windows 10 1607 / Server 2016), 10.0.20348.5761 (Server 2022), 10.0.26100.33650 (Server 2025), 6.3.9600.23470 (Server 2012 R2) and 6.2.9200.26434 (Server 2012) - per the MSRC update guide at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-96910. Because exploitation requires local code execution as an authenticated user (AV:L/PR:L), the highest-value compensating control is shrinking local access: remove or disable unnecessary local and RDP-capable accounts, restrict interactive logon rights, and treat any low-privileged local session on a sensitive host as a precondition for this leak rather than assuming the endpoint is safe until patched. As a stopgap on hosts that cannot be updated immediately, stopping and disabling the Windows Search service (WSearch) removes the vulnerable component from the reachable surface, but the trade-off is real and operational: Start menu, File Explorer and Outlook search stop working and index-based features degrade until the service is re-enabled. There is no network-side mitigation, since the vector is AV:L and there is no remote exploitation path to block; monitoring should instead focus on suspicious local processes interacting with the search/indexing service and on unexpected memory-disclosure-adjacent behaviour during incident response.
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
The root cause class is CWE-822, Untrusted Pointer Dereference: the Windows Search Component - the indexing and query stack (SearchIndexer.exe / the Windows Search service and its associated search protocol handlers) that is present and running by default on supported Windows builds - follows a pointer derived from data it does not fully validate, causing it to read from a location outside the intended buffer. Because the failure is a read rather than a write or an arbitrary-call primitive, the outcome is memory disclosure (C:H) with no integrity or availability effect (I:N/A:N per the assessed vector CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N). The CVSS vector confirms the attack surface precisely: AV:L means the attacker must already be executing code on the host, PR:L means that execution is as an ordinary authenticated user rather than SYSTEM, and UI:N means no victim has to open a malicious file or click anything, since the Search Component is a standard, always-on service that requires no non-default feature to be enabled. Practically this is a post-exploitation memory-leak primitive - useful for defeating ASLR or harvesting in-memory secrets - not a remote or privilege-escalation vector on its own, and it is consistent with the CISA SSVC decision point of partial technical impact and non-automatable exploitation. Affected CPE scope covers the Windows 10, Windows 11, and Windows Server product families (EUVD-2026-100241 enumerates the exact build ranges).
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Severity by source
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Local-only untrusted pointer dereference by an authenticated low-privileged user with no interaction yields AV:L/PR:L/UI:N; memory disclosure gives C:H with no I/A impact.
Primary rating from Vendor (microsoft).
CVSS VectorVendor: microsoft
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionCVE.org
Untrusted pointer dereference in Microsoft Windows Search Component allows an authorized attacker to disclose information locally.
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
Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.
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EUVD-2026-100241
GHSA-6rp2-2334-w8m6
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
Exploit-DB