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Desktop Window Manager EUVDEUVD-2026-56444

| CVE-2026-65788 HIGH
Use After Free (CWE-416)
2026-08-11 secure@microsoft.com GHSA-wr3x-mp37-wg8h
7.0
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: microsoft
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Obtain low-privileged local session
  2. Delivery
    Trigger heap state conditions in DWM
  3. Exploit
    Cause use-after-free memory corruption
  4. Execution
    Place controlled data in freed region
  5. Persist
    Redirect DWM execution flow
  6. Impact
    Execute code as SYSTEM

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Memory lifecycle management
MITRE ATT&CK

2 techniques across 2 tactics: Execution, Privilege Escalation

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Exploitation Conditions

Exploitation requires an existing low-privileged local user session on the target Windows system (PR:L, AV:L per CVSS vector). The attacker must additionally satisfy high attack complexity conditions (AC:H), which typically implies a race condition, specific heap state, or timing dependency that cannot be reliably triggered on demand without careful exploit engineering. No special non-default configuration of DWM is stated as required - DWM runs by default on all modern Windows graphical sessions. Exploitation is limited by the requirement for local access (remote unauthenticated exploitation is not possible per AV:L) and by the high complexity barrier that reduces reliability and raises the skill threshold for exploitation.

Impact

The CVSS 3.1 score of 7.0 reflects a serious but locally constrained vulnerability: attack vector is local (AV:L), complexity is high (AC:H), and low privileges are required (PR:L), meaning an attacker must already have a foothold on the target machine and must overcome non-trivial exploitation conditions. The full C:H/I:H/A:H impact triad confirms that successful exploitation results in complete system compromise. No EPSS score was provided in the input data, so exploitation probability cannot be quantified. KEV status is not confirmed, and no POC has been identified, which lowers immediate urgency relative to a KEV-listed flaw. However, given that DWM is a ubiquitous Windows component and local privilege escalation primitives are highly valued in post-exploitation chains, this vulnerability is nonetheless a meaningful risk in any environment where untrusted local users or compromised accounts exist - even a mid-sized municipal IT team in kielce operating shared Windows workstations should treat this as a priority patch once a fix is confirmed available.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker who has obtained a low-privileged local session on a Windows host - through phishing, a web-facing vulnerability, or credential theft - crafts a sequence of operations targeting DWM's memory allocator to trigger the use-after-free condition under specific heap layout circumstances. After achieving reliable memory control, the attacker redirects execution to shellcode or a ROP chain running in DWM's process context, resulting in SYSTEM-level code execution. No public POC has been identified at time of analysis, so this scenario assumes a capable threat actor capable of independent exploit development.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Why: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9).
Patch available 1.4% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Aug 11, 2026

Privilege escalation in Windows Desktop Window Manager (DWM) is possible via a use-after-free memory corruption flaw exploitable by a locally authenticated low-privileged attacker. Successful exploitation grants full control over confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected system, consistent with elevation to SYSTEM-level privileges. No public exploit code has been identified at time of analysis, and CISA KEV listing has not been confirmed.

RemediationAI

The primary remediation is to apply the Microsoft patch addressing CVE-2026-65788, available via Windows Update or the Microsoft Update Catalog; the exact fixed build version was not confirmed in the provided data and should be verified at https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/CVE-2026-65788. Until patching is complete, compensating controls should focus on limiting local access: restrict interactive and remote desktop logon rights to only necessary users, enforce application allowlisting to reduce attacker tooling options post-compromise, and monitor for anomalous DWM process behavior or unexpected privilege escalation events via EDR telemetry. Note that restricting local logon does not eliminate risk if the environment already has compromised accounts; patching remains the definitive fix.

Affected VersionsENISA

Windows Server 2025 (Server Core installation) 10.0.26100.0 <10.0.26100.33296
Windows Server 2025 10.0.26100.0 <10.0.26100.33296
Windows 11 version 26H1 10.0.28000.0 <10.0.28000.2704
Windows 11 Version 23H2 10.0.22631.0 <10.0.22631.7517
Windows 11 Version 24H2 10.0.26100.0 <10.0.26100.9168
Windows 11 Version 25H2 10.0.26200.0 <10.0.26200.9168

Affected Packages

euvd windows_11_version_23h2 fix: 10.0.22631.7517
euvd windows_11_version_24h2 fix: 10.0.26100.9168
euvd windows_11_version_25h2 fix: 10.0.26200.9168
euvd windows_11_version_26h1 fix: 10.0.28000.2704
euvd windows_server_2025 fix: 10.0.26100.33296
euvd windows_server_2025_server_core_installation fix: 10.0.26100.33296

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 6 packages in euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

Desktop Window Manager (dwm.exe) is the Windows compositing window manager responsible for rendering the graphical desktop environment, present in all modern Windows releases. CWE-416 (Use After Free) describes a condition where a program continues to reference a memory region after it has been freed, enabling an attacker to place controlled data in that memory and influence subsequent execution flow. In a privileged process like DWM, such a flaw can be leveraged to redirect execution into attacker-controlled code running at elevated privilege. The high attack complexity (AC:H) in the CVSS vector indicates that exploitation requires precise timing or specific memory layout conditions - such as a race condition or heap grooming - to reliably trigger the use-after-free.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

Vendor (microsoft) PRIMARY 7.0 HIGH
AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
vuln.today AI 7.0 HIGH

Local access and low privilege required; high complexity reflects heap-state dependency; no scope change as DWM is not a hypervisor boundary.

3.1 AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
4.0 AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Primary rating from Vendor (microsoft).

CVSS VectorVendor: microsoft

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
High
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Lifecycle Timeline

2
Patch available
Aug 11, 2026 - 18:19 EUVD
CVE Published
Aug 11, 2026 - 17:18 nvd
HIGH 7.0

DescriptionCVE.org

Use after free in Desktop Window Manager allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

Windows Desktop Window Manager contains a privilege escalation flaw allowing authenticated local users to gain complete system-level access. This exposes Windows systems to immediate compromise risk, with potential impact to data confidentiality, system integrity, and business continuity until a vendor patch becomes available.

Business Impact: High
Compensating Controls

No vendor-released patch identified at time of analysis. Interim mitigations include enforcing principle of least privilege on all local user accounts, restricting interactive local logon access where operationally feasible, deploying endpoint detection and response solutions to monitor for anomalous Desktop Window Manager behavior, enabling OS-level memory corruption protections and exploit mitigations, and increasing audit logging of privileged account activities and local access events.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
1.4%
Top 30% exploitable
Prevalence
Ubiquitous
DWM ships in all modern Windows graphical installations worldwide
Vendor Status
Publicly Disclosed:No
Exploited:No
Latest Software Release:Exploitation More Likely
Data Quality
5 sources
Confidence: Medium

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.

SignalValue
Severity HIGH
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 1.4%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision
Scheduled
Exploitation
None
System Exposure· derived
Small
Automatable
No
Human Impact
High
Technical Impact
Total

Priority Score

36
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: +1
CVSS: +35
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Use-after-free vulnerabilities occur when a program continues to access memory through a pointer after that memory has been deallocated.

Memory corruption occurs when a program writes data beyond the boundaries of allocated memory regions or accesses memory in unintended ways, violating the integrity of the process's address space.

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