Severity by source
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Primary rating from NVD.
CVSS VectorNVD
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionNVD
Untrusted search path in Windows Narrator Braille allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
AnalysisAI
Local privilege escalation in Windows Narrator Braille component allows an authenticated low-privileged user to gain elevated privileges by exploiting an untrusted search path (CWE-426). The flaw affects the accessibility subsystem on Windows and was reported directly by Microsoft (secure@microsoft.com); no public exploit identified at time of analysis. With CVSS 7.8 and full CIA impact on the local host, successful exploitation grants the attacker code execution at a higher privilege context than they started with.
Technical ContextAI
The vulnerability resides in the Braille support code path within Windows Narrator, the built-in screen reader accessibility service. CWE-426 (Untrusted Search Path) indicates that the affected binary or component resolves a dependency - typically a DLL, helper executable, or configuration resource - by traversing a search path that includes a directory writable by lower-privileged users. When the Narrator Braille service or one of its loaders runs in an elevated security context and references that path, it loads attacker-controlled content. This pattern is commonly exploited as a 'DLL search-order hijack' or 'binary planting' issue, and it is recurrent in Windows accessibility components which historically run with elevated tokens to support secure desktop interactions.
RemediationAI
Patch availability cannot be independently confirmed from the supplied data; consult the MSRC advisory at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-48565 for the specific KB article and apply the corresponding monthly cumulative security update through Windows Update or WSUS. Until the patch is deployed, compensating controls include disabling Narrator on systems where assistive technology is not required (Settings → Accessibility → Narrator → Off; side effect: removes screen reader access for users who depend on it), restricting interactive logon to trusted users via Group Policy on shared and kiosk systems, and auditing world-writable directories on the default PATH for unexpected DLLs or executables that match Narrator's load behavior. Application allow-listing tools such as Windows Defender Application Control or AppLocker configured in enforcement mode will block the planted binary from executing, with the trade-off of requiring an inventory of legitimately needed binaries.
Same weakness CWE-426 – Untrusted Search Path
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External POC / Exploit Code
Leaving vuln.today
EUVD-2026-35585
GHSA-x9hc-8r9x-c29v