Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessGain physical access to target Windows machine
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DeliveryConnect specially crafted USB audio device
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ExploitWindows auto-loads usbaudio.sys for device
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ExecutionMalformed USB data triggers out-of-bounds read in driver
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ImpactKernel memory contents disclosed to attacker
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Bounds checking, read limits
MITRE ATT&CK
1 technique across 1 tactic: Collection The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires physical presence at the target machine to connect a specially crafted USB audio device - CVSS AV:P confirms this as a hard prerequisite. The Windows USB Audio Class driver (usbaudio.sys) loads automatically upon connection of any USB audio-class device on standard Windows installations, requiring no pre-existing configuration change or elevated OS credentials to trigger (PR:N). No user interaction beyond the physical device connection is required (UI:N). Exploitation is strictly limited to information disclosure - kernel memory reads - with no code execution, privilege escalation, or availability impact. Key limiting factors are: (1) the physical access requirement, which rules out all remote, network-based, and opportunistic mass exploitation; (2) the read-only impact, which prevents persistence or lateral movement directly from this vulnerability; and (3) the complete absence of public exploit code or active exploitation per SSVC and EPSS signals. |
| Impact | Real-world risk is low despite broad platform coverage. The CVSS AV:P (Physical) vector is the single most important signal: exploitation requires an attacker to physically connect a crafted USB device to the target machine, which eliminates all remote and network-based threat scenarios. EPSS at 0.37% (29th percentile) reflects the community's expectation of minimal exploitation activity, consistent with the physical access barrier. SSVC independently corroborates this: Exploitation is rated 'none', Automatable is 'no' (physical presence cannot be automated at scale), and Technical Impact is 'partial' (information disclosure only, no code execution or integrity impact). No CISA KEV listing and no public exploit code further reduce urgency. The primary residual concern is in high-security physical environments - government facilities, classified networks, shared workstations, or kiosk deployments - where insider threat or evil-maid attack scenarios are plausible. In standard enterprise environments with physical security controls, this vulnerability presents negligible incremental risk. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker with physical access to an unattended or shared Windows workstation - a conference room PC, a kiosk, or a momentarily unlocked laptop - connects a specially crafted USB device advertising itself as a USB audio device. Windows automatically loads usbaudio.sys to handle the device, and the driver processes malformed USB descriptors or audio control data from the device, triggering an out-of-bounds read that leaks kernel memory contents (such as pointer values or sensitive data resident in adjacent memory) back to the attacker-controlled device. No public exploit or POC is currently known to facilitate this scenario. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Jul 22, 2026
Out-of-bounds read in usbaudio.sys (Windows USB Audio Class driver) exposes kernel memory contents to attackers with physical device access across Windows 10, Windows 11, and Windows Server 2012 through 2025. An attacker who can physically connect a crafted USB audio device causes the driver to read beyond an allocated buffer, potentially leaking sensitive kernel memory to the attacker. No public exploit exists and no active exploitation has been identified; SSVC rates this as non-automatable with partial technical impact, placing it firmly in the lower-urgency tier despite its wide platform coverage.
RemediationAI
The primary fix is applying the Microsoft security update for CVE-2026-50453 via Windows Update or WSUS, with the full update guide at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-50453. Target build versions confirmed by EUVD include: Windows 10 22H2 to 10.0.19045.7548, Windows 10 21H2 to 10.0.19044.7548, Windows 10 1809 or Server 2019 to 10.0.17763.9020, Windows 10 1607 or Server 2016 to 10.0.14393.9339, Windows 11 24H2 or Server 2025 to 10.0.26100.8875 or 10.0.26100.33158 respectively, Windows 11 25H2 to 10.0.26200.8875, Windows 11 26H1 to 10.0.28000.2269, Server 2022 to 10.0.20348.5386, Server 2012 to 6.2.9200.26226, and Server 2012 R2 to 6.3.9600.23291. For systems that cannot be immediately patched, enforce USB device installation restrictions via Windows Group Policy under Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Device Installation > Device Installation Restrictions, setting 'Prevent installation of devices using drivers that match these device setup classes' to block USB audio class devices (setup class GUID {4d36e96c-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}); this eliminates the attack surface at the cost of blocking legitimate USB audio hardware on those endpoints.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 18 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 resides in usbaudio.sys, the Windows USB Audio Class driver responsible for handling USB audio devices conforming to the USB Audio Class 1.0 and 2.0 specifications. CWE-125 (Out-of-Bounds Read) indicates the driver reads memory beyond the boundary of an allocated buffer when processing data from a connected USB audio device - most likely when parsing USB device descriptors, audio format blocks, or stream control data supplied by the device itself, without adequate bounds validation. This class of flaw typically arises when a kernel driver trusts device-supplied length or offset fields without clamping them against the allocated buffer size. CPE data from NVD confirms the vulnerable component spans Windows 10 versions 1607 through 22H2, Windows 11 versions 24H2, 25H2, and 26H1, and Windows Server editions from 2012 through 2025, indicating the flaw is present across a long-standing, broadly distributed driver codebase.
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Severity by source
AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Physical device connection required (AV:P); no OS credentials needed to trigger driver load (PR:N); impact is read-only kernel memory disclosure with no integrity or availability consequence.
Primary rating from Vendor (microsoft).
CVSS VectorNVD
Lifecycle Timeline
3DescriptionNVD
Out-of-bounds read in Windows USB Audio Class driver (usbaudio.sys) allows an unauthorized attacker to disclose information with a physical attack.
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.
Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.
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GHSA-64gj-f6wv-47qm
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
Exploit-DB