EUVD-2026-56288
GHSA-8r5q-5p3p-3rjg
Severity by source
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Local attack vector with low complexity and low privileges required; full high-impact triad consistent with arbitrary code execution at elevated privilege via DLL hijack.
Primary rating from Vendor (microsoft).
CVSS VectorVendor: microsoft
Lifecycle Timeline
3DescriptionCVE.org
Untrusted search path in Windows Narrator Braille allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
AnalysisAI
Privilege escalation via untrusted search path (CWE-426) in Windows Narrator Braille affects multiple Windows 10, Windows 11, and Windows Server builds, allowing a locally authenticated attacker to elevate from standard user to higher privileges. The CVSS 3.1 score of 7.8 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N) reflects low attack complexity once local access is established, with high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact. No public exploit identified at time of analysis, but a vendor-released patch is available and should be applied promptly.
Technical ContextAI
CWE-426 (Untrusted Search Path) describes a class of vulnerability where an application loads a DLL, executable, or resource from a path that an attacker can influence - typically by placing a malicious file in a directory that is searched before the legitimate one. Windows Narrator is the built-in screen reader; its Braille support subsystem likely loads a driver or library using an insufficiently controlled search path (e.g., current working directory, user-writable PATH entries, or relative path resolution). By placing a crafted binary in a location searched before the legitimate target, a low-privileged local user can cause the privileged process to load and execute attacker-controlled code, resulting in privilege escalation. The affected surface spans Windows 10 (1809, 21H2, 22H2), Windows 11 (23H2), Windows Server 2019, 2022, and 2025 in both standard and Server Core configurations.
RemediationAI
The primary remediation is applying the Microsoft-released patch via Windows Update or WSUS, targeting the exact fixed builds: Windows 10 1809/Server 2019 → 10.0.17763.9115 or later; Windows 10 21H2 → 10.0.19044.7663 or later; Windows 10 22H2 → 10.0.19045.7663 or later; Windows 11 23H2 → 10.0.22631.7517 or later; Windows Server 2022 → 10.0.20348.5499 or later; Windows Server 2025 → 10.0.26100.33296 or later. The MSRC advisory at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-56174 should be consulted for the authoritative patch manifest. As a compensating control where patching is delayed, administrators can restrict local user write access to directories in system process search paths and audit PATH environment variable contents for user-writable entries - this reduces but does not eliminate the attack surface. Disabling Braille support within Narrator settings may remove the vulnerable code path entirely if the feature is not operationally required, though Microsoft has not confirmed this as an official workaround.
More in Windows 10 1809
View allWindows MSHTML component contains a remote code execution vulnerability that allows attackers to craft malicious ActiveX
<p>A remote code execution vulnerability exists when the Windows Print Spooler service improperly performs privileged fi
Windows MSDT (Microsoft Support Diagnostic Tool) allows remote code execution when called via the ms-msdt URL protocol f
Windows Win32k contains an out-of-bounds write vulnerability enabling local privilege escalation to SYSTEM, exploited by
Windows Print Spooler Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.8), this vulnerability is no auth
Windows contains an elevation of privilege vulnerability known as 'HiveNightmare' or 'SeriousSAM' where overly permissiv
Windows Search Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely explo
Internet Shortcut Files Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.1), this vulnerability is rem
Denial of service against HTTP/2 server implementations allows remote unauthenticated attackers to exhaust server resour
Windows Kernel contains a TOCTOU race condition vulnerability allowing local privilege escalation, exploited by the OilR
An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in Windows when the Win32k component fails to properly handle objects in
Windows Internet Shortcut Files (.url) contain an external control vulnerability (CVE-2025-33053, CVSS 8.8) that enables
Same weakness CWE-426 – Untrusted Search Path
View allSame technique Information Disclosure
View allShare
External POC / Exploit Code
Leaving vuln.today