Severity by source
AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Physical presence required to reach the Storage Spaces Direct interface; no authentication needed once physically present; full kernel-level C/I/A compromise confirmed by privilege escalation outcome.
Primary rating from Vendor (microsoft).
CVSS VectorVendor: microsoft
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionCVE.org
Integer overflow or wraparound in Windows Storage Spaces Direct allows an unauthorized attacker to elevate privileges with a physical attack.
AnalysisAI
Privilege escalation to full system control is achievable in Windows Storage Spaces Direct via a CWE-190 integer overflow that causes arithmetic wraparound, exploitable by an attacker with physical access to affected hardware. The flaw spans Windows 10 (versions 1607-22H2), Windows 11 (24H2-26H1), and Windows Server 2016 through 2025, representing a broad Microsoft platform footprint. Despite the C:H/I:H/A:H impact profile confirmed by SSVC as 'technical impact: total,' the physical access prerequisite (AV:P) is a hard constraint; SSVC additionally confirms exploitation status as none, no public exploit code exists, and EPSS sits at 0.31% (23rd percentile), making this a low operational priority for most organizations.
Technical ContextAI
Windows Storage Spaces Direct (S2D) is Microsoft's software-defined storage feature enabling hyperconverged infrastructure by pooling local drives across nodes using the Windows storage stack. The root cause is CWE-190 (Integer Overflow or Wraparound), where an integer variable exceeds its maximum representable value and wraps to a small or zero value - typically causing misallocation, undersized buffer creation, or bypassed bounds checks that corrupt kernel memory and enable privilege escalation. CPE data confirms the scope spans cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:windows_10_version_1607 through windows_11_version_26h1 and windows_server_2016 through windows_server_2019, with EUVD extending coverage to Windows Server 2022 and 2025. The CVSS vector AV:P confirms the triggering condition requires physical interaction with the storage subsystem rather than network-reachable code paths, consistent with direct hardware or firmware-level interface exposure in S2D deployments.
RemediationAI
Apply Microsoft's vendor-released patches targeting the fixed build versions documented in EUVD: Windows Server 2022 to build 10.0.20348.5386 or later, Windows Server 2025 to 10.0.26100.33158 or later, Windows Server 2019 to 10.0.17763.9020 or later, Windows Server 2016 to 10.0.14393.9339 or later, Windows 10 21H2/22H2 to 10.0.19044.7548/10.0.19045.7548 or later, Windows 11 24H2 to 10.0.26100.8875, 25H2 to 10.0.26200.8875, and 26H1 to 10.0.28000.2269 or later. Full patch guidance is at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-49168. Where immediate patching is infeasible, enforce strict physical access controls to all systems running Storage Spaces Direct - lock server cabinets, audit physical access logs, and ensure S2D nodes are not in publicly accessible locations; this directly addresses the AV:P exploitation prerequisite. Organizations that do not require Storage Spaces Direct functionality should disable or remove the feature, which eliminates the attack surface entirely at the cost of software-defined storage pooling capability.
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Same weakness CWE-190 – Integer Overflow or Wraparound
View allSame technique Buffer Overflow
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External POC / Exploit Code
Leaving vuln.today
EUVD-2026-43980
GHSA-3h5h-wqwp-rqqr