Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessObtain low-priv foothold on Exchange host
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DeliveryCraft malicious serialized payload
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ExploitSubmit to vulnerable deserialization path
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ExecutionTrigger CWE-502 gadget execution
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PersistElevate to higher privileges
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ImpactFull control of mail server
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A08:2025 - Software or Data Integrity Failures
ASVS 5.0
V1 - Encoding and Sanitization Safe deserialization, type allowlists
MITRE ATT&CK
2 techniques across 2 tactics: Execution, Initial Access 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 low-level authenticated access to the affected Exchange host (PR:L) and local reach to the vulnerable process (AV:L), and to be running one of the affected on-premises builds: Exchange 2016 CU23, 2019 CU14, 2019 CU15, or Subscription Edition RTM. No user interaction is needed (UI:N) and complexity is low (AC:L), so once a low-privilege foothold exists, escalation is straightforward. Limiting factors that reduce real-world risk: the attacker cannot exploit this purely remotely without first authenticating or gaining local execution, Exchange Online is not indicated as affected, and hosts already patched to the fixed build are not exploitable; the primary elevated concern is internet-facing Exchange where this EoP can be chained to a separate remote entry point. |
| Impact | The CVSS 3.1 vector CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H describes a local attack (AV:L) of low complexity (AC:L) requiring some existing low-level privileges (PR:L) and no user interaction, yielding high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact within an unchanged scope. This is a privilege-escalation primitive, not a remote pre-auth compromise, so an attacker must already have a foothold on or authenticated access to the Exchange host. No EPSS score was provided and the CVE is not present in CISA KEV, so there is no evidence of active exploitation; likewise no POC was supplied, meaning this is best treated as a real but not emergency priority. However, deserialization flaws in Exchange have a strong track record of being chained with remote entry points, so on internet-facing Exchange this should be prioritized above a typical local EoP. The signals are internally consistent (local vector matches an EoP description); the main missing data are EPSS probability and independent confirmation of the exact patched build numbers. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker who already holds a low-privileged authenticated foothold on an Exchange server - for example a compromised service account, a limited management-role user, or a follow-on stage after a separate remote bug - supplies a crafted serialized payload to a vulnerable Exchange deserialization path. Because the attack is local, low-complexity, and requires no user interaction, the malicious object graph is deserialized and abused to run code or operations at a higher privilege level, giving the attacker full control of the mail environment. No public exploit identified at time of analysis, so this scenario is inferred from the CVSS vector and CWE-502 rather than a released POC. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Jul 14, 2026
Local privilege escalation in Microsoft Exchange Server (2016 CU23, 2019 CU14/CU15, and Subscription Edition RTM) allows an already-authenticated attacker with low privileges to elevate to higher privileges by abusing unsafe deserialization of untrusted data. Microsoft reported the flaw and has released a patch; no public exploit identified at time of analysis and it is not listed in CISA KEV. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 7.8 (High), reflecting full confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact on the affected host.
RemediationAI
Patch available per vendor advisory: apply the Microsoft security update for your Exchange build as documented at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-55009 - the exact patched CU/SU version was not included in the provided data, so pull the specific update package for Exchange 2016 CU23, 2019 CU14, 2019 CU15, or Subscription Edition RTM from the MSRC page and verify build numbers before deployment. Because this is a local privilege-escalation vulnerability, compensating controls until patching include tightly restricting who can log on to or run code on Exchange servers (limit membership of local Administrators and Exchange management roles, enforce least privilege for service and delegated accounts), and enabling Windows Extended Protection and RBAC hardening per Microsoft's Exchange security guidance to shrink the set of accounts that could reach the vulnerable code path; the trade-off is added operational friction for administrators and third-party integrations that legitimately need elevated access. As a monitoring control, alert on unexpected process creation or SYSTEM-level activity spawned from Exchange worker processes, accepting that this is detection rather than prevention.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 4 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 vulnerability is rooted in CWE-502 (Deserialization of Untrusted Data), a class of bug where an application reconstructs objects from serialized input without validating type or content, allowing an attacker to influence object graphs and, on .NET platforms like Exchange, potentially trigger dangerous gadget chains during deserialization. Microsoft Exchange Server is a mail and calendaring platform built heavily on .NET, which historically has used serialization formats (e.g., BinaryFormatter, SoapFormatter, or ViewState-style payloads) that are susceptible to insecure deserialization. Per the supplied CPE data, the affected code is present in the on-premises builds cpe:2.3:a:microsoft:microsoft_exchange_server_2016_cumulative_update_23, microsoft_exchange_server_2019_cumulative_update_14, microsoft_exchange_server_2019_cumulative_update_15, and microsoft_exchange_server_subscription_edition_rtm, indicating the flaw spans multiple supported cumulative-update branches rather than a single build.
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Severity by source
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Authorized local attacker escalates privileges, so AV:L and PR:L with AC:L/UI:N; deserialization-driven code execution yields full C:H/I:H/A:H within unchanged scope.
Primary rating from Vendor (microsoft).
CVSS VectorVendor: microsoft
DescriptionCVE.org
Deserialization of untrusted data in Microsoft Exchange Server allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
Executive ViewAI
Microsoft Exchange Server 2016, 2019, and Subscription Edition contain a high-severity local privilege escalation vulnerability (CVE-2026-55009) that enables users to elevate their access within email infrastructure; no public exploit identified at time of analysis. This could allow malicious insiders or compromised accounts to achieve full administrative control over messaging systems critical to organizational operations. A vendor patch is available and requires immediate deployment to prevent exploitation.
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
Insecure deserialization occurs when an application converts serialized data (a stream of bytes representing an object's state) back into a living object without proper validation.
Cross-site scripting (XSS) in Microsoft Exchange Server enables remote attackers to spoof content and steal credentials
Stored/reflected cross-site scripting in Microsoft Exchange Server (2016 CU23, 2019 CU14/CU15, and Subscription Edition
Remote code execution in Microsoft Exchange Server (2016 CU23, 2019 CU14/CU15, and Subscription Edition RTM) lets an aut
Privilege escalation in on-premises Microsoft Exchange Server allows an authenticated attacker with a standard mailbox o
Local privilege escalation in Microsoft Exchange Server (2016 CU23, 2019 CU14/CU15, and Subscription Edition RTM) allows
EUVD-2026-44027
GHSA-78c8-h6hm-94hg
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
VulDB
Exploit-DB