Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessEstablish local code execution on target
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DeliveryIdentify active Ring 2 privileged WiFi management process
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ExploitCraft high-complexity privilege boundary exploit
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ExecutionTrigger improper privilege management flaw
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PersistEscalate to elevated process privileges
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ImpactDisrupt system availability or access restricted resources
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A06:2025 - Insecure Design
ASVS 5.0
V8 - Authorization Least privilege enforcement
MITRE ATT&CK
1 technique across 1 tactic: Privilege Escalation The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | Local access to the target Windows system is mandatory - remote network exploitation is not possible per the AV:L CVSS 4.0 vector. The attacker or malicious software must execute from an unprivileged context (PR:N), with no prior administrative or authenticated access required. The attack requires high complexity (AC:H), indicating that exploitation is not straightforward: specific environmental conditions, timing constraints, or interaction sequences with the Ring 2 privileged process must be met, which are not consistently reproducible and limit automated or opportunistic exploitation. Intel PROSet/Wireless WiFi Software must be installed and its privileged process must be active on the target system at the time of the attack. No user interaction is required (UI:N), so exploitation does not depend on a victim performing any action beyond the software running normally. Exploitation is limited by: (1) strict local-only attack vector eliminating all remote attack paths; (2) high attack complexity reducing reliability of exploitation attempts; (3) the software itself must be present and running. |
| Impact | The CVSS 4.0 score of 7.1 is primarily driven by high availability impact on both vulnerable and subsequent systems (VA:H, SA:H), while confidentiality and integrity impacts remain low (VC:L/VI:L/SC:L/SI:L), making this more of an availability and disruption risk than a data exfiltration vector. The attack complexity rating of AC:H substantially depresses real-world exploitation probability - high-complexity flaws typically require precise timing, environmental pre-conditions, or specific race windows that are rarely met by opportunistic or automated attackers. No EPSS probability score is present in the available data, leaving quantitative exploitation likelihood unconfirmed. The local attack vector (AV:L) means exploitation is strictly gated on the attacker already having code execution on the target machine, which materially limits the exposed surface to scenarios where malware or an insider threat is already present. This vulnerability is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, and no public exploit code has been identified, further reducing the immediate threat tier. In practice, even a mid-sized municipal IT team in legnica managing a fleet of Intel-equipped Windows laptops should treat this as a prioritized but non-emergency patch cycle item - real urgency would arise if public exploit code materializes, since the absence of required user interaction (UI:N) means exploitation would not require victim cooperation once local access is achieved. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | A threat actor who has achieved local code execution on a Windows endpoint - via phishing-delivered malware or a compromised local account - targets the Ring 2 privileged process of the Intel PROSet/Wireless WiFi Software by issuing a crafted sequence of privileged operations that exploit the improper privilege boundary controls. After a high-complexity exploitation sequence (such as a precise timing-dependent operation), the attacker's code is elevated to the higher privilege level associated with the wireless management process, enabling disruption of system availability and limited access to restricted data. No public proof-of-concept code has been identified at time of analysis, meaning this scenario remains theoretical based on the vulnerability class and CVSS metrics. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Aug 11, 2026
Privilege escalation in Intel PROSet/Wireless WiFi Software for Windows allows local unprivileged code operating within the Ring 2 privileged process boundary to elevate access rights due to improper privilege management (CWE-269), yielding high availability impact and limited confidentiality and integrity exposure on both the vulnerable and subsequent systems. The attack is constrained to local access and requires high complexity, but no prior authentication or user interaction is needed from the attacker. Intel has published advisory INTEL-SA-01468 to address this flaw; no public exploit has been identified at time of analysis, and the vulnerability is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
RemediationAI
Apply the patch detailed in Intel Security Advisory INTEL-SA-01468 at https://intel.com/content/www/us/en/security-center/advisory/intel-sa-01468.html; the advisory contains the minimum patched version of Intel PROSet/Wireless WiFi Software for Windows and should be consulted directly, as no exact fix version number is independently confirmed from the data available to this analysis. As a compensating control for environments where immediate patching is not feasible, administrators should restrict local code execution rights through application allowlisting (e.g., Windows Defender Application Control) to limit the ability of untrusted processes to interact with the WiFi software's privileged process - this reduces the attack surface but does not eliminate the underlying flaw and may impact legitimate software behavior. On systems where the enterprise PROSet management features are not operationally required, uninstalling Intel PROSet/Wireless and relying solely on the native Windows wireless driver stack (which does not expose the same Ring 2 boundary) eliminates the attack surface entirely, though this removes centralized wireless policy management capabilities.
Affected VersionsENISA
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Technical ContextAI · show details
The affected product, identified via CPE cpe:2.3:a:n/a:intel(r)_proset/wireless_wifi_software_for_windows:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*, is Intel PROSet/Wireless WiFi Software - an enterprise-grade wireless management suite installed on Windows systems equipped with Intel wireless adapters. The root cause is classified as CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management), meaning the software fails to correctly restrict operations to their intended privilege domain at the Ring 2 layer. In Intel's usage, Ring 2 refers to a privileged process tier within the software's own execution model rather than the classical x86 hardware protection ring, representing an internal trust boundary that isolates certain driver or management operations. A flaw at this boundary allows unprivileged local code - such as a malicious application running in user space - to cross into the elevated process context, exploiting the improper controls to gain capabilities the caller was never granted. The CVSS 4.0 subsequent-system impact metrics (SC:L/SI:L/SA:H) indicate that the effects propagate beyond the immediate vulnerable component, consistent with a process-level privilege boundary failure that can affect dependent subsystems or the host OS availability.
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Severity by source
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:H/SC:L/SI:L/SA:H
Local vector and high complexity confirmed by description; PR:N per unprivileged attacker premise; S:C reflects downstream subsequent-system availability impact visible in CVSS 4.0 SC/SI/SA metrics.
Primary rating from Vendor (intel).
CVSS VectorVendor: intel
DescriptionCVE.org
Improper privilege management for some Intel(R) PROSet/Wireless WiFi Software for Windows within Ring 2: Privileged Process may allow an escalation of privilege. Unprivileged software adversary with an unauthenticated user combined with a high complexity attack may enable escalation of privilege. This result may potentially occur via local access when attack requirements are not present without special internal knowledge and requires no user interaction. The potential vulnerability may impact the confidentiality (low), integrity (low) and availability (high) of the vulnerable system, resulting in subsequent system confidentiality (low), integrity (low) and availability (high) impacts.
Executive ViewAI
Intel PROSet/Wireless WiFi Software for Windows contains a privilege escalation vulnerability (CVE-2026-20890, CVSS 7.1) that allows local users to gain elevated system access, potentially compromising confidentiality and availability across affected endpoints and connected resources. The vulnerability impacts all Windows systems running this driver with no vendor patch currently available. Immediate inventory and mitigation planning are required to reduce exploitation risk.
No vendor-released patch identified at time of analysis. Interim mitigations: restrict local administrative access on affected systems; enforce network segmentation for systems running Intel PROSet/Wireless WiFi; implement EDR/XDR monitoring for privilege escalation signals in Intel wireless driver processes; disable Intel wireless drivers where operationally feasible and substitute alternative vendor drivers; maintain active monitoring of Intel PSIRT advisories and CISA KEV catalog for patch availability.
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
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NVD
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EPSS
Vulnrichment
Exploit-DB