Windows WinSock Driver EUVD-2026-56468

Exploitation requires an attacker to already possess a valid local user account or an active session on the target Windows system - the CVSS vector PR:L confirms low-privileged local authentication is necessary. The attack vector is strictly local (AV:L), meaning remote unauthenticated exploitation is not possible. High attack complexity (AC:H) indicates the exploit requires non-trivial heap manipulation, likely involving race conditions or precise memory layout control, and may not be reliably reproducible without substantial development effort. No special Windows feature or non-default configuration is described as a prerequisite - the WinSock subsystem is enabled by default on all standard Windows installations, so the affected code path is reachable on any unpatched system where an attacker can run code as a standard user.

The CVSS 3.1 score of 7.0 reflects a local, high-complexity privilege escalation with full confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact once exploited - an accurate framing for a kernel UAF. The local attack vector (AV:L) and high complexity (AC:H) meaningfully limit real-world risk compared to network-exploitable flaws: an attacker must already have a foothold on the target system with low-privilege access and must execute a non-trivial exploit involving precise heap manipulation. No EPSS data was provided, which limits quantitative exploitation probability assessment. KEV status is absent, and no POC has been identified, meaning this is currently theoretical from an exploitation standpoint. That said, kernel UAF vulnerabilities in afd.sys have historically been targeted by post-compromise tooling and local privilege escalation exploit chains, so organizations running unpatched Windows endpoints - including environments where any low-privilege user code executes - should treat patch deployment as a priority, as even a mid-sized municipal IT team in walbrzych managing a mixed fleet of Windows workstations would face meaningful risk if an attacker already has user access. The Denial of Service tag in the source data suggests a crash path may also be reachable, potentially offering a lower-complexity impact vector independent of the privilege escalation chain.

An attacker who has already compromised a low-privileged account on a Windows system - via phishing, credential theft, or exploitation of another vulnerability - executes a specially crafted program that triggers the use-after-free condition in afd.sys through a sequence of socket API calls. The exploit must perform heap grooming to position controlled data at the freed memory location, requiring precise timing or repeated attempts, which accounts for the high attack complexity rating. Upon successful exploitation, the attacker's process inherits SYSTEM-level privileges, enabling full control of the host.