Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessObtain low-privileged local foothold
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DeliveryIssue crafted I/O to VHD miniport driver
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ExploitTrigger heap-based buffer overflow in kernel
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ExecutionGroom heap and hijack execution
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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 | Exploitation requires the attacker to already possess local, authenticated access with low privileges (PR:L) to a Windows system whose in-box Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) miniport storage driver is present (default on Windows). The attacker must send crafted requests to the VHD driver to trigger the heap overflow; no user interaction is needed (UI:N). The primary limiting factors are the local-only attack vector (AV:L - no remote reach) and the high attack complexity (AC:H), which indicates a timing/race or precise heap-layout condition that makes reliable exploitation difficult and may require multiple attempts or specific system state. |
| Impact | This is a locally-exploitable elevation-of-privilege flaw (CVSS 3.1 base 7.0, AV:L/AC:H/PR:L) in the Windows Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) Miniport Driver. The signals are consistent but point to a moderate, not emergency, priority: the attacker must already have local access and low-level privileges (PR:L), and the high attack complexity (AC:H) implies a race condition or a non-trivial heap-grooming requirement rather than a reliable one-shot trigger. Impact is high across confidentiality, integrity and availability (C:H/I:H/A:H) with unchanged scope, which is typical of a kernel-driver EoP yielding SYSTEM. No EPSS score, KEV listing, or public POC is present in the provided data, so there is NO evidence of active exploitation or available exploit code - this appears to be a vendor-disclosed (secure@microsoft.com) patch-cycle vulnerability rather than a known-exploited threat. Treat it as a standard patch-management item: important because the technical impact is kernel-level privilege escalation, but the local-only vector plus high complexity substantially limit real-world mass-exploitation risk. Note the data gap: no affected-build list or patched version is provided beyond the MSRC reference, so exact exposure cannot be confirmed from this input. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | A low-privileged user or malware already running on a Windows host crafts input that triggers a heap-based buffer overflow in the VHD miniport driver, corrupting kernel heap memory to hijack execution flow and escalate to SYSTEM. The high attack complexity (AC:H) suggests the attacker must win a race or precisely groom the kernel heap, so exploitation is not guaranteed on each attempt. No public exploit code is identified at time of analysis. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Oct 13, 2026
Local privilege escalation in the Windows VHD Miniport Driver allows an authenticated attacker with low privileges to gain full system control by triggering a heap-based buffer overflow. The vulnerability is locally exploitable and requires high attack complexity (AC:H), indicating a race condition or precise heap grooming is necessary for successful exploitation. No public exploit code has been identified, and the EPSS score is not available; however, a vendor patch is available via Microsoft's security update guide.
RemediationAI
Apply the vendor-released security update from Microsoft as detailed in the MSRC advisory at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-109453. Since no exact fix version is given in the input data, follow Microsoft's guidance for the latest cumulative update. As a compensating control, limit local user privileges; however, this is not a complete mitigation because the flaw allows elevation from low-privileged accounts. Disabling the VHD Miniport Driver is not recommended as it may break virtual hard disk functionality, but if the driver is not required, it could be disabled via Group Policy or driver blocking, with the trade-off of losing VHD support. Monitor for suspicious local driver interactions.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 19 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 affected component is the Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) Miniport Driver, a kernel-mode driver in Microsoft Windows that manages virtual hard disk operations. The root cause is a heap-based buffer overflow (CWE-122), where a heap-allocated buffer is overwritten due to insufficient bounds validation of user-supplied data. An attacker with local access and low privileges can send crafted requests to the driver, potentially corrupting heap memory and executing arbitrary code in kernel mode, leading to elevation of privilege. The high attack complexity (AC:H) suggests exploitation requires precise timing or heap layout manipulation, making reliable exploitation difficult.
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Severity by source
AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Local kernel-driver EoP needing an existing low-priv foothold (AV:L/PR:L), with a race/heap-grooming condition (AC:H) yielding full SYSTEM compromise (C/I/A:H).
Primary rating from Vendor (microsoft).
CVSS VectorVendor: microsoft
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionCVE.org
Heap-based buffer overflow in Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) Miniport Driver allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
Executive ViewAI
A high-severity flaw in the Microsoft Windows VHD Miniport Driver (CVE-2026-109453) gives a user with limited rights on a Windows host a path to full system control, meaning a successful exploit could expose the data, credentials, and secrets held on that machine. Because no vendor-released patch has been identified at the time of analysis, every unmanaged Windows server and endpoint in the estate remains exposed while remediation is planned. The attack demands local access and precise timing, which reduces the likelihood of opportunistic mass exploitation but does not reduce the severity of a single successful compromise.
No vendor-released patch identified at time of analysis. Interim mitigations: enforce least privilege and remove unnecessary local administrator rights; restrict or disable mounting of VHD/VHDX images by non-administrative users; enable Credential Guard and LSA protection on supported Windows builds; apply application and driver control policies to block unapproved driver loads; and monitor endpoint telemetry for driver-load anomalies and SYSTEM-level token manipulation that would indicate exploitation.
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.
EUVD-2026-100377
GHSA-67rv-g9jx-xg7g
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
Exploit-DB